Week at the Net: Region 1-6A Matchups and Houston County Tournament

It was a busy week at the net as teams look forward to the GHSA state playoffs. Monday saw the second round of region play for many schools in the county, and on Tuesday and Wednesday the junior varsity and varsity county champions were crowned.

Monday: Region 1-6A at Houston County High School, Lady Warhawks and Lady Bears go 2-0.

The first opponent for the Houston County Lady Bears on Monday was the Tift County Lady Devils, and they took the match with scores of 25-17 and 28-26.

Ella Blasche had great tips over the net, and with great kills by several outside hitters, HoCo was able to take commanding leads throughout the series.

HoCo took a 12-9 lead in the second set, and didn’t look back until they won 28-26 to take the set and match against the Lady Devils.

In their second match, they faced off against the Lee County Lady Trojans in a close three-set match.

HoCo dropped the first set 27-25 in extra points, and then coasted to victory in their next two sets 25-13 and 15-10 to go 2-0 on the evening.

The Northside Lady Eagles dropped their match to the Thomas County Central Lady Jackets in two close sets, and the Lady Devils captured their match against the Lady Eagles handedly.

The Lady Warhawks swept their matches against TCC (25-7, 25-3) and the Lady Devils (25-21, 25-10) relatively easily to go 2-0 on the night.

Tuesday: Lady Warhawks Soar to Junior Varsity Championship

On Tuesday, the junior varsity Lady ‘Hawks won the county championship against HoCo’s junior varsity squad, but first they had to get through the Warner Robins Demonettes.

The Lady ‘Hawks swept the match with scores of 25-20 and 25-16, though it was a battle, and the early leads the Lady ‘Hawks built proved to be too much for the Demonettes.

The Perry Lady Panthers got through the Lady Eagles on their way to the semi-finals by scores of 25-14 and 25-11, their reward was a match with HoCo — the reigning county champs.

It proved to be a difficult matchup, and HoCo won both sets 25-15 and 25-7.

HoCo dominated the service line with several aces, and also set up their outside hitters for kills. The Lady Panthers weren’t able to keep up.

That set up the county championship match, and the Lady ‘Hawks won 26-24 and 25-17.

HoCo went down in the first set in a nail-biter with great play at the net by defensive players, and the Lady ‘Hawks needed extra points to get the victory.

HoCo kept close to the Lady ‘Hawks in the second set, but untimely service and receive errors allowed the Lady ‘Hawks to gain a lead and eventually take the match and championship.

Wednesday: Lady Warhawks both County Championship Trophies back to the Nest

To start the varsity matchups the Demonettes and Lady Eagles battle in the play-in match to determine who would face HoCo.

While that happened, the Lady ‘Hawks and Lady Panthers battled to see who would land in the championship match.

The Lady ‘Hawks took control of their first set against the Lady Panthers, and won 25-10 with great serves and offensive play setting up many kills by their outside hitters.

The Lady Panthers made the second set a competitive one, but fell 25-18.

The Demonettes won their first set against the Lady Eagles 25-14 with impressive serving and receiving skills.

To escape the play-in the Demonettes dominated the second set and won 25-5 highlighted by a pivotal joust at the net to force the ball over to clinch the set.

After getting out of the play-in the Demonettes faced off against HoCo for a chance to play in the championship, and they made it a competitive match.

HoCo ended up winning, but the scores were close.

The Demonettes took the first set in extra points 26-24, and HoCo won the next two 25-16 and 18-16.

To help give them an advantage, the Demonettes threw a wrench in HoCo’s “home court” advantage by changing the side they start on, and it was helpful in capturing the first set, and helped them stay close in the second and third.

HoCo and the Lady ‘Hawks met in the championship round to decide the fate of the trophy, and who will host the tournament next year.

The Lady ‘Hawks won the title of county champions in two very close sets.

Neither team led by more than a handful of points, and there were plenty of long rallies and defensive plays from each team.

Congrats to the Lady ‘Hawks!

HHJ News