David Skinner can vividly remember Burke County volleyball’s second-round matchup against Sonoraville during the 2025 GHSA Class 2A State Championships.
The Bears' head coach recalls how his team was overwhelmed by the opposition. For the first time all year after having its best season in program history, Burke County looked outclassed. They’d go on to lose in straight sets and finish the year 28-2 overall.
“We broke down mentally when we started making those mistakes and having that adversity when we started piling those mistakes onto each other,” Skinner said.
"I took that loss very hard," said senior Londyn Williams. "I cried because I feel like we could have done better."
That defeat stays with Skinner and the returning players on the team
to this day. It acts as a reminder for the program. Despite their dominance throughout the regular season, they fell short when it mattered most.
Now in the 2026 campaign, the Bears are using that defeat as motivation to be even better than what they were a season ago. After defeating Westside Tuesday evening, the team is 23-0. Led by seniors Ra’Shonna Heath, Cheyenne Queen and Williams, Burke County’s aspirations this year are simple; win it all.
“It fuels us a lot because we have only three seniors, but those three seniors were a part of that team last year,” Skinner said. “They’re really hungry to not only get to where we were last year, but to get farther.”
Coming into this year, though, it wasn’t a sure thing that the Bears' dominance would carry over. This squad is the youngest team that Skinner has ever coached at Burke County. Seven players on the roster are freshmen, while two of them are sophomores.
Burke County’s unblemished record to this point is a reflection of the top-down leadership style that the team employs. Coach Skinner and his staff make all the calls, but the seniors have become extensions of the coaches and have taken time both on and off the floor to mentor the younger players. From the offseason summer workouts to midseason, that senior leadership has been invaluable for the growth of the underclassmen.
“They make it a very positive environment,” said freshman outside hitter Savannah Brown, who’s second on the team in kills, “and it’s a great environment for us to learn from our mistakes, as well as learn new things.”
Williams credits the strong start this season to the chemistry, discipline and tight-knit bond that her team shares. While all that is true, her play this year might even play a bigger role in how they’ve rolled through the regular season so far.
The senior outside hitter is up to 139 kills on the season. Williams surpassed 500 career kills earlier in the year, a testament to her talent and skill. But where she’s taken the biggest leap this year is her kill percentage.
Last season in a smaller role, she had a 48.1% kill percentage. This year she’s bumped that up to over 70% on a high volume of attempts. She’s also dramatically cut down on her errors this season, resulting in a near 60% hitting percentage.
“She had a great last season, but I think in the beginning of this season, especially in the offseason, the light bulb [turned on],” Skinner said. “[It’s like] ‘hey, it’s now on me to kind of lead for once and then do things the right way and outwork my teammates so that they can work as hard as I am.’”
Heath and Queen also play big roles on the squad. Heath, who’s listed as outside hitter and setter, is already up to 144 service aces on the year. That’s approaching all-American levels of production. Queen on the other hand plays distributor, setting up kills for Williams and Brown, among others. The senior has already eclipsed 120 assists to this point in the season.
But for as dominant as Burke County has been, they know that it means nothing now if they can’t finish the job. Their fatal flaw a year ago was not knowing how to face adversity because they hadn’t faced it much at all during the regular season.
Skinner tries to implement adversity into practices whenever he can. But ultimately, it’ll be a challenge to simulate a win-or-go-home playoff atmosphere on a Tuesday afternoon, and he knows that.
“We just kind of keep them grounded and not get caught up in the success that we have,” Skinner said. “We try to tell them that adversity is going to come sooner or later. It could be one or two points, it could be a set. Anything can happen.”
The Bears might very well enter the playoffs undefeated and without giving up a single set. They’re that good. And if that does happen, the team will have to rely on their togetherness, their talent, and the pain of falling short last year to bring back a volleyball state title to Burke County.
“It would mean a lot to me [to win it all],” Williams said. “Not only to me, I feel like it would mean a lot to all of us, because we’ve got something to prove.”
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Burke County volleyball continues historic run, yet still unsatisfied
