West Hall, the No. 3 seed out of Region 7-AAA, will take on Harris County, the No. 2 seed out of Region 2-AAA at Riverwood High at 9 a.m.
The Lady Spartans (26-17, 9-0 Region 7-AAA) are led by seniors Kelsi New, Kayla Davis, Courtney Cox and Whitney Delp.
Harris County (38-5, 9-3), out of Hamilton, was swept by Columbus in its region title game (25-11, 25-17, 25-11). The Lady Tigers, like their Columbus counterparts, have dominated Class AAA competition. Their only lost matches, other than the four sweeps of Columbus, came against Hardaway. Again like Columbus, Harris County went on to win both games despite losing a match.
The No. 2 seed, and Region 7-AAA runner-up, Lady Falcons out of Flowery Branch open the state tournament by playing Hardaway (22-10, 6-3), the No. 3 seed out of Region 2-AAA, at 10:30 a.m. at Westminster.
The Lady Falcons are led by seniors Mandi Pierce, Falyn Richardson, Sorelyss Pino, Chelsea Wilson and junior setter Jennica Ramey.
Region 7-AAA champion North Hall plays the No. 4 seed out of Region 2-AAA, Jordan, at 4:30 p.m. at Westminster.
North Hall (27-8, 8-1) has, in its last 18 games, gone 17-1, sweeping every competitor.
The Lady Trojans are led by Region 7-AAA tournament MVP Katie Spell along with fellow seniors Jennifer Morris, Danielle Hollander, Courtney Wiley, Lauren Bolton, Sara Anna McCoun, Lindsey Lewis and Caroline Coker.
According to their coach Debbie Wiley, having eight seniors rotating in and out of every game provides a consistent level of leadership and comfort leading to a team that doesn’t peak and valley, but rather maintains a steady composure.
Jordan (14-16, 6-4) will be led in the tournament by Tanisha Gonzalez and Ashleigh Kaufman. The Lady Red Jackets fared well against Class AAA competition outside their region going 2-1 against Dunwoody and LaGrange.
West Forsyth, the No. 4 seed out of Region 7-AAA will begin its quest for state by playing the Region 2-AAA champions Columbus at 3 p.m. today at Riverwood High.
The Lady Wolverines had a dismal regular season going 11-23 overall, however, they managed to have a 7-2 record in Region 7-AAA play and, despite losing both of their games in the tournament to North Hall and West Hall, came out with the No. 4 seed and a trip to the state tournament.
Columbus, on the other hand, not only dominate those in its region but also those outside compiling a 45-11 overall record while going 12-0 in Region 2-AAA. The Lady Blue Devils have only lost two matches the whole season to Class AAA competition, Blessed Trinity (25-19, 16-25, 25-23) and Sandy Creek (27-25, 23-25, 20-25). Columbus went on, however, to win both games.