It took Lake Highland Prep all five sets to put away First Academy in a district matchup of the two remaining undefeated teams in Class 5A District 6, 3-2 Tuesday night at the Weng Family Gymnasium on the Lake Highland Prep campus. Sophomore middle blocker Lauren Gips lead the Highlanders in the first set with 6 kills and 3 blocks as LHP cruised to a 25-15 victory. 

In the second set the Royals jumped out to an early lead behind junior outside hitter Emily Oerther's 5 kills along with senior Matti McKissock's 3 kills to even the match at one, 25-20. Oerther finished with a match-high 22 kills while McKissock added 18 kills on the night.

LHP took momentum back in the third set as Taylor O'Neal exploded for five of her fifteen kills on the night and the Highlanders held off the Royals 25-23 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

After a back and forth fourth set that TFA won 25-23, the fifth set saw both teams use 6 poiint runs to take the lead at different points of the match. An ace from freshman defensive specialist Karsyn Dickerson gave LHP the 13-12 lead and swung momentum back to the Highlanders after TFA had taken a 10-8 lead. O'Neal registered her fifteenth kill on match point to give the Highlanders the 3-2 win and clinched the #1 seed in the upcoming district tournament. Gips was named the Spectrum Sports Player of the Game finishing with a team-high 18 kills and 6 blocks on the night. 

LHP improves to 17-2 on the season while the Royals fall to 9-7. All 7 of TFA's losses have come to teams that qualified for the playoffs last season after the Royals won the Class 4A state title.