News Photo by Yvette Lanier Hillman volleyball coach Erin Fleming, holding the district championship trophy, and the Hillman team celebrate after beating Mio in the district final on Friday at Hale High School.

By YVETTE LANIER News Sports Writer HALE – Cinderella has arrived at the ball. Screams of excitement filled the air at Hale High School as the Hillman Tigers hugged each other and basked in their glory of capturing the district volleyball championship after they roared to a 3-1 over the Mio Thunderbolts Friday night. Hillman was considered the underdog and its path to the district finals had many giants — Atlanta, Posen and Mio — standing next to the Tigers. Not even their leading hitter for the match, Courtney Jones, who finished the night with four blocks and nine kills, expected them to be holding the trophy. “I never imagined we would go this far,” Jones said. “We were never expected to win this. We lost to Atlanta twice and we lost to Posen twice, and we beat them. Coming in here, and even through all the noise and everything, we played as a team.