Columbus, Northside reach Elite Eight in state volleyball playoffs

The Columbus Blue Devils and Northside Patriots swept their Sweet 16 matches Wednesday in the Georgia Class AAAA volleyball state playoffs and advanced to the Elite Eight.

As the runner-up to the Blue Devils in Region 1, the Patriots have had the tougher path. But they notched their second straight road victory in these playoffs.

Northside won Wednesday at Region 2 first seed Perry 25-14, 25-8 and 25-7.

“I’m sure proud of them,” said Northside associate head coach, who has guided the team this season while head coach Lindsay Johnson is on maternity leave, although Johnson attended Wednesday’s match.

The Patriots led only 8-6 in the first set, but they pulled away and remained in control the rest of the way.

“We started off a little bit slow in the first set, but we stayed engaged and got the job done,” Roper said. “We served tough at them and picked up anything they returned.”

Statistical leaders for Northside were senior setter Caroline Irving (21 assists, 2 aces), junior outside hitter Nevaeh Edwards (4 aces, 10 kills, 5 digs), senior outside hitter Lauren Duncan (10 kills, 3 aces, 8 digs), junior libero Berkleigh Davidson (14 digs) and senior defensive specialist Hannah Patchin (9 digs, 2 aces).

After losing to St. Pius X in the Elite Eight the past two years, Northside will get a third straight chance. The Patriots (32-19) will play Saturday at 11 a.m. at Region 8 first seed St. Pius (39-5).

“It’s nice to be one of the last eight teams remaining in the state,” Roper said. “It’s going to be a mentally and physically tough match, but our girls are excited for it.”

Playing their second straight home playoff match Wednesday, the Blue Devils beat Region 3 third seed Cross Creek 25-4, 25-11 and 25-5.

“Our ball control was really solid with our serving and also our passing,” said Columbus head coach Donna Fleming. “They did not attack very much. They had trouble handling the ball. Our serves were very tough, so they bumped the ball over to us, and we were able to run our middle attack.”

Statistical leaders for Columbus were senior middle blocker Tierra White (15 kills, 1 ace), junior outside hitter Savannah Ogle (9 kills) and junior setter Ashley Cox (28 assists, 7 aces, 5 kills).

Columbus (43-8) will host Region 6 first seed Northwest Whitfield (43-6) in an Elite Eight match Saturday at 1 p.m.

Last year, because they lost the region championship to Northside, the Blue Devils had to play at Woodward Academy in the 2017 second round — and lost. It was a disappointing exit for the program that has reached the state championship match six times and won three state titles in Fleming’s 15 years as the coach.

“All the players before them established a certain standard and a legacy,” she said. “You have to live up to that, work hard and push yourself. It’s kind of like keeping the trust, keeping it and passing it on. . . . So I’m just proud of our team this year. They’re really working hard at practice and pushing themselves to take what they do in practice and do it in the match.”

FOOTBALL

The Shaw Raiders lost to the Cairo Syrupmakers 45-14 Wednesday night at Kinnett Stadium.

Shaw trailed 31-0 at halftime and didn’t recover.

The Raiders fell to 3-6 overall and 2-6 in Region 1-AAAA. First-place Cairo improved to 7-2 and 7-0.

Shaw is in eighth place in the nine-team region. The top four qualify for the state playoffs. Shaw finishes the regular season with a non-region game Nov. 2 at LaGrange, so the Raiders are out of playoff contention.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

FOOTBALL

Friday, Oct. 26

Northside vs. Hardaway at Kinnett Stadium, 7:30 p.m.

Spencer at Bremen, 7:30 p.m.

Harris County at Bainbridge, 7:30 p.m.

Brookstone at Macon County, 7:30 p.m.

Pacelli at Schley County, 7:30 p.m.

Marion County at Taylor County, 7:30 p.m.

Manchester at Dooly County, 7:30 p.m.

Calvary Christian at Life Christian, 7:30 p.m.

Auburn at Central, 8 p.m.

Prattville at Smiths Station, 8 p.m.

Glenwood at Autauga, 8 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 29

Carver vs. Westover at Kinnett Stadium, 6 p.m.

VOLLEYBALL

Saturday, Oct. 27

Class AAAA state playoffs, Elite Eight: Northside at St. Pius X, 11 a.m.; Northwest Whitfield at Columbus, 1 p.m.

CHEERLEADING

Saturday, Oct. 27

Northside at CSU, 2 p.m.

Hardaway at Northgate, TBA

Mark Rice, 706-576-6272, @MarkRiceLE.

This story was originally published October 24, 2018 at 11:27 PM.