One of GHSA’s most storied volleyball programs has produced a pair of huge hitters for Georgia Northwestern for 2013.

Just four months after Ringgold High School reached the Sweet Sixteen round of the GHSA state playoffs for the 10th straight year, North Georgia Player of the Year Rachel McGill and All-Region honoree Victoria Sprouse inked with the Lady Bobcats in a ceremony on Feb. 27.

McGill and Sprouse produced monster numbers at the net for the Lady Tigers in 2012.

McGill, an outside hitter for Ringgold, served up 39 aces, 128 kills, and 34 digs in her honor-filled season.

“She can dominantly play any position on the court and she’s proved that all season long,” said Ringgold head coach Cadi Dotson. “She took a leader’s role on this team throughout the season.”

Spouse, the middle hitter for the Lady Tigers, put up eerily similar numbers when in attack mode. The incoming Lady Cat locked in for 39 aces and 147 kills in her final year for the Blue Nation.

“We will be going from a season without a true hitter to a season with two of the strongest ones you can find in Northwest Georgia,” said Lady Bobcats head coach Carrie Powell.

McGill and Sprouse have been best friends since they were only eight years old. The two first played volleyball together at Ringgold Middle School.

“These two just feed off of each other,” said Dotson, who has coached them on the middle school, high school, and Junior Olympic levels. “Having worked with them in the beginning to now seeing them at this level is just simply inspirational. They will bring Georgia Northwestern everything they could want in a pair of student-athletes.”

Both McGill and Sprouse have plans on pursuing a career in nursing and wish to begin taking core classes at Georgia Northwestern in preparing for application to the college’s nursing program. It’s a pursuit that may be, in part, due to the fight McGill has faced this past year with cancer.

Doctors removed McGill’s thyroid in 2012 to help eliminate cancer from her body. McGill also has Type I Diabetes, but neither battle has slowed her down.

“I just want to do my part and be able to make a difference next season,” said McGill.

Dotson says McGill motivates her teammates by example.

“She treats every day like a blessing. She’s been a real inspiration to everyone on her team.”

With both of these newcomers to the JUCO ranks, Sprouse makes her plans for 2013 with the Lady Cats very clear.

“What do I want to do next season,” repeated Sprouse in her interview. “Just win, man.”

Georgia Northwestern first launched its intercollegiate varsity women’s volleyball program in 2008. Over the past five years, the college has made headlines several times across the Southeast with huge wins over multiple Southeastern Conference women’s volleyball club teams.

“From Ole Miss to Vanderbilt to Tennessee, we found a lot of success, sometimes even putting some of those universities out of their own tournaments,” said Powell.

The second-year Georgia Northwestern head coach was a member of the college’s first squad.