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Four moving
on to state
By MONROE
ROARK
mroark@TheCitizenNews.com
As area tournaments wound down
earlier this week, four local teams in three classifications found themselves
in the state sectionals, which begin this weekend at various locations.
Play began last Thursday in the AAAAA area tournament with the elimination
of Mundy’s Mill and Riverdale. Mundy’s Mill lost to McIntosh
and Fayette County, while Riverdale lost to Starr’s Mill and Lovejoy.
Lovejoy lost to East Coweta Thursday, but managed to stay alive in the
tournament by beating Riverdale, securing a playing spot Saturday against
Newnan. Fayette County also lost Thursday against Newnan, but beat Mundy's
Mill and remained in the playoffs to face East Coweta Saturday.
Proceeding to Saturday play undefeated were McIntosh, Starr’s Mill,
East Coweta and Newnan.
McIntosh opened play Saturday by beating Newnan in three straight games
(25-15, 25-17, 25-17), while Starr’s Mill beat East Coweta in three
straight games (25-17, 25-19, 25-23). This forced Newnan and East Coweta
to play back-to-back while facing the teams who came out of Thursday's
play with one loss.
East Coweta eliminated Fayette County with a four-game win (25-19, 19-25,
25-15, 25-18) and Newnan eliminated Lovejoy in three straight (25-19,
25-13, 25-22). This allowed the two Coweta schools to join McIntosh and
Starr's Mill in the next round.
East Coweta prevailed over Newnan (25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 25-14, 15-6) and
the Lady Cougars were eliminated. Meanwhile, McIntosh pulled out a four-game
win over Starr’s Mill (25-19, 17-25, 26-24, 25-22) to guarantee the
Lady Chiefs a spot in the area finals last night.
Starr’s Mill grabbed the other spot by beating East Coweta (21-25,
25-11, 20-25, 25-16, 15-11) and producing an all-Fayette final. Regardless
of last night's results, which were achieved after this paper went to
press, Starr’s Mill and McIntosh will both advance to the state sectionals.
In their area tournament at Lithia Springs, Sandy Creek finished second
and earned a spot in the state sectionals. They started last Thursday
with a win over Northgate (25-12, 25-12, 25-14) and won their opening
match Saturday against Chapel Hill (25-19, 25-14, 25-14).
The Lady Patriots pushed Woodward, one the state's top-ranked teams, to
five games in a tough loss (25-21, 8-25, 27-25, 18-25, 11-15) but rebounded
to defeat Chapel Hill again (19-25, 25-19, 25-13, 25-12). That match put
them in the state sectionals.
In the tournament final, Woodward defeated Sandy Creek in three straight
games (25-15, 25-10, 25-14).
Landmark Christian was scheduled to host Holy Innocents Tuesday night
in their area finals, but had already locked up a spot in the state sectionals.
The most recent state coaches rankings, released Monday, show Westminster
first in the state, followed by Woodward, Marist, Landmark, St. Vincent’s,
Sequoyah, McIntosh, Wesleyan, Savannah Christian, Oconee County and Starr’s
Mill.
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