Clayton News Daily

By Brian Paglia

bpaglia@news-daily.com

In the first round of the state volleyball tournament, Southern Crescent teams dropped off at an alarming rate -- eight of the 10 teams that made it lost.

Only two teams are left standing. Eagle's Landing Christian (31-11) hosts Sonoraville (29-12) at 5:00 p.m in the Class AA/A second round. In Class AAAA, top-seeded Jonesboro (37-10) hosts Evans at 5:30 p.m.

If both advance, they face formidable challenges.

The Lady Chargers would mostly likely face Blessed Trinity, the No. 1 team in the Gasports.com Class AA/A Coaches Poll, in the quarterfinals. Jonesboro should face Johns Creek, ranked No. 6 in Class AAAA.

Despite the daunting task, ELCA built its regular season schedule to prepare for the rigors of the state tournament.

The Lady Chargers went 11-8 against teams ranked in their respective classification and played several top programs from Tennessee, Florida and Louisiana in weekend tournaments.

Blessed Trinity was included in that regular season gauntlet.

The Lady Titans beat ELCA, 25-18, 28-30, 25-22, on August 28.

Jonesboro faced its share of ranked opponents during the regular season. The Lady Cardinals went 4-4 against ranked teams.

People's advances at GCAA state tourney: The People's Baptist volleyball team got a first-round victory at the state tournament thanks to a 25-13, 28-26, 20-25 and 25-20 win against Old Suwanne Christian.

Anna Reagan finished with five aces, 14 kills, 16 digs and four blocks. Julianne Dryka had four aces, 13 kills and 23 digs and Ashley Kiwacz finished with five aces, nine digs and two kills.

People's plays its second-round match Friday night.

Elsewhere: The Creekside Christian volleyball team lost its varsity match 13-25, 21-25 and 19-21 and its junior varsity match 19-25, 25-21 and 20-25 to Heritage Academy in action played Monday afternoon.