You can’t get any more dominating than this. After Wednesday’s first round action, northeast Georgia area volleyball teams went a collective 15-1 in the first round Georgia High School Association playoffs.
On Tuesday, area teams went a perfect 5-0. That continued that on Wednesday with the 11 teams in action going 10-1, including a six-team sweep in Class 3A.
In Class 5A, Region 8-5 champ Jackson County whipped Houston County 25-12, 25-6, 25-12 at home to advance to Saturday’s second round. The Lady Panthers will play host to Greenbrier, a 3-1 winner over Villa Rica.
Habersham Central outlasted Lee County 25-21, 25-12, 25-21 on a long road trip to move on. The Lady Raiders will await the Effingham-East Paulding winner in the second round.
Gainesville, however, dropped a tough 4-set match to Pope. The Lady Greyhounds won the final two sets after the Lady Red Elephants took the second set 33-31 to even the match. Pope pulled away with 25-9 and 25-21 wins to get the victory.
In Class 3A, Dawson County went on the road to get a 3-0 win over No. 4 seed West Laurens (25-14, 25-21, 25-13). No. 2 overall seed Chestatee made easy work of Southeast Bulloch, getting a 3-0 win at home (25-11, 25-16, 25-9).
White County, the No. 6 seed, dominated Cedar Grove, 25-6, 25-9, 25-13, to advance and Cherokee Bluff beat Whitewater 3-1, rallying from a set down for a 20-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-23 victory. North Hall took a 4-set win over Northwest Whitefield, 3-1, after winning the first two sets.
In Class A, both Banks County and Rabun County pulled out thrillers on the road.
The Last Leopards won the final two sets after falling behind 2-1. Banks County eventually moved on to the Sweet 16 with a 3-2 (25-15, 19-25, 18-25, 25-21, 19-17) victory. They will travel to No. 4 seed Bremen on Saturday.
Rabun County also got a 3-2 win, taking down No. 4 seed Lamar County. The Lady Wildcats came from two sets down for a 12-25, 14-25, 25-18, 26-24, 15-7 win.
Second round action for all six classifications will be held on Saturday.
On Tuesday, Classes 6A, 4A, and 2A all were in action.
In Class 6A, Region 8-6A champ Buford (21-10) steamrolled Region 2 No. 4 seed Chapel Hill 25-14, 25-8, 25-20 at home. The Lady Wolves next will face Lowndes, a 3-1 winner over Cherokee, in the second round. North Forsyth held off North Gwinnett 3-2 on the road and will head to Region 3-6A champion Harrison in the Sweet 16.
In Class 4A, East Forsyth, the No. 2 seed from Region 8-4A, swept Eagles Landing 3-0 to move into the second round. The Lady Broncos will get the Perry-Northview winner on Saturday.
In Class 2A, Union County went on the road and got an impressive 3-0 sweep over Redan. The Lady Panthers (17-18) looked impressive in winning 25-13, 25-14, and 25-10.
Despite being a No. 21 seed, the Lady Spartans will play host to No. 28 seed Spencer, who knocked off No. 5 Miller Grove, in the second round. The two teams will play on Saturday.
No. 8 seed East Jackson got past KIPP 25-15, 25-11, 25-12 to move on. The Lady Eagles (25-14) will play host to the Pierce County-Hart County winner in the second round.
GHSA VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS, 1st round
WEDNESDAY'S SCORES, Oct. 16
(Best-of-five sets match at higher seed)
Class 5A
Habersham Central 3, Lee County 0
Jackson County 3, Houston County 0
Pope 3, Gainesville 1
Class 3A
Cherokee Bluff 3, Whitewater 1
Chestatee 3, Southeast Bulloch 0
Dawson County 3, West Laurens 0
Jefferson 3, Mary Persons 0
North Hall 3, Northwest Whitefield 1
White County 3, Cedar Grove 0
Class A
Banks County 3, Chattooga 2
Rabun County 3, Lamar County 2
TUESDAY'S SCORES, Oct. 15
Class 6A
Buford 3, Chapel Hill 0
North Forsyth 3, North Gwinnett 2
Class 4A
East Forsyth 3, Eagles Landing 0
Class 2A
East Jackson 3, KIPP 0
Union County 3, Redan 0
