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Surrattsville High School senior Mallory Johnson and four of her teammates represented the Clinton school last March in the state Class 1A girls' basketball finals. On Thursday, the group will step onto the state-wide stage once again, only this time they'll be wearing volleyball jerseys.

Surrattsville qualified for its first state volleyball semifinals in 24 years Friday night with a 25-23, 25-20, 25-20 victory against Baltimore's Carver Vo-Tech in the 1A South Region final.

The Hornets will play the champion of the 1A West Region – either Fort Hill or Smithsburg – at 6 p.m. Thursday at Ritchie Coliseum at the University of Maryland, College Park. Fort Hill and Smithsburg play at 4 p.m. Saturday.

"It's a big step for us because we haven't gotten [to states] in a long time. It just puts our school back on the board," said Surrattsville's Moriah Perry.

After winning the match's first point, Surrattsville struggled to put together a run and trailed for much of the first game before drawing even at 15-15. However, the Hornets benefited from several Carver serves that went wide or into the net, and retook the lead at 24-23. They clinched the game when one of Carver's returns went wide.

"I think they got the jitters out and just played their game," said Surrattsville coach Arthur Warren of his players.

Warren, in his second year as the program's head coach, said he felt jubilation after the win, as he reflected on how far his team has come. Last year, he said the Hornets got off to a "rocky start," before finishing the year at 7-7.

Surrattsville didn't trail in the final two games, jumping out to a 12-3 lead in the second game and an 8-2 lead in the third. Carver struggled to find consistency serving. Seven of their serves went wide or into the net, and they also had problems adjusting to the low ceiling in Surrattsville's gym. Three times Carver had passes or hits deflect off one of the ceiling's support beams for Surrattsville points.

The surroundings court weren't the only thing that bothered Carver. So did the Hornets' size at the net. Johnson, Perry and Amber Walls all had a height advantage over most of Carver's players and managed to block Carver's rallies during the third game. The trio, along with Tiara Battle and Ciara Williams all also play on the Surrattsville girls' basketball team.

Carver (8-5) knocked out Surrattsville (13-2) in the first round of last year's playoffs, but Johnson said the team hadn't used revenge as a motivational method during practice. They just played their game, she said, and made sure they communicated between points.

The last time the Hornets made a state semifinal appearance was in 1985. The school also advanced to the state semifinals in 1979 and 1981 and the state title match in 1978.

"It really means a lot [to win the region] and it shows that we've come a long way because we got knocked out in the first round [last year]," Johnson said. "And being a senior and knowing that I'm a part of that is big."