Savannah Christian's Maggie Kyriakides has put in countless hours to become one of Georgia's top volleyball players, and her hard work paid off in a big way last week.
The 6-foot-1 outside hitter received an offer to play at Alabama, and the junior verbally committed to the SEC program in a May 2 post on X (formerly Twitter).
“I'm very excited. This is a really big deal for me,” Kyriakides said. “Alabama has a great program and the fans are very supportive of the team. I think I can grow in that community and I can't wait to get there.”
Kyriakides was named first-team All-Greater Savannah the past two seasons. As a junior, she led the Raiders to the Region 3-3A title and the Class 3A state quarterfinals, earning Region Player of the Year and All-State honors.
During the season, she had 377 kills with 49 aces, 31 blocks, 157 digs, and 311 serve receives.
Kyriakides said she played a variety of sports from an early age and earned a second-degree black belt in karate before focusing on volleyball around age 12. She has a very strong relationship with SCPS coach Julie Jones. She coached Kyriakides at Club Savannah from the age of 13.
“I knew this was going to be my sport,” Kyriakides said. “I've learned so much from Coach Jones. She's always very positive and knows how to critique my game. I'm pretty loud on the court and get very excited. He's a physical, competitive player. I think so.''I've improved a lot in my serve-receive and passing skills over the past year, and I'm also getting better at moving the ball with my batting. ”
Jones, who earned his 800th career win this season and will be inducted into the Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame on Monday night, said he enjoyed working with Kyriakides.
“I'm very excited for Maggie and her opportunity to play at Alabama,” Jones said. “She will be the first SEC volleyball signee from Savannah Christian. She has dedicated a lot of time and effort in the gym and weight room to get to where she is today. I'm looking forward to what I'll accomplish this season as a Raider. ”
Kyriakides said he and his family were excited when he decided to attend college last week.
“I’m a big Southeastern Conference fan, and now my parents are big Alabama fans,” she said. “I've ordered a lot of products and they're starting to arrive at my house. The teachers at Savannah Christian, who are very supportive of Georgia State, told me they had to get some Alabama products to support me. I am saying.”
Her supporters will be cheering her on for one more season at SCPS, and Kyriakides is looking forward to her senior season.
“Our goal is always to win a state championship,” Kyriakides said. “But I'm going to have a lot of fun my senior year. We're going to have a great team and I'm going to be there to help our young players get better and continue to build our program.” I want to be there.”
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact us at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN