East Columbus pushed its winning streak to 19 games as the Gators took home the Carolina Conference Volleyball tournament championship with a 3-0 victory over North Duplin Wednesday in Salemburg.
East Columbus took the match by set scores of 25-22, 25-14, and 25-14. Maggie Brown led the Rebels in the loss with 10 kills and Abigail Norris contributed seven kills. Lilly Fulgram also dished out 20 assists for North Duplin. North Duplin (16-6) will go into the 2A brackets as a No. 10 seed. They will host Southside (5-15) on Saturday.
East Columbus (19-1) go into the 1A playoffs as a number three seed. The Gators will represent the Carolina Conference as regular season and tournament champions. The Gators are led be Malia Graham, who leads the state in 1A in hitting percentage (.702) and blocks.
Brittany Mitchell is second in the state in assist for the Gators. The Gators received a first round bye. They will await the winner of the No. 14 Neuse Charter (10-12) and No. 19 Rocky Mount Prep (5-7) match, who play on Saturday.
Other area teams received bids in the state playoffs. This is the first year that there have been eight classifications in the volleyball playoffs.
East Bladen (7-15) got the No. 19 seed and will travel Saturday to take on fellow Carolina Conference opponent Hobbton (14-6), who plucked the No. 14 seed. Hobbton took both matches during the regular season, 3-2 and 3-1. West Columbus (3-14) garnered a No. 24 seed and will go to Pamlico (16-8), a nine seed.
The Southeastern Conference placed two local teams in the 3A bracket. West Bladen (14-3) received the nine seed and South Columbus (11-11) got the No. 16 seed. West Bladen will host #24 seed Pender (5-17) on Saturday. The Patriots are paced by Jensen Bordeaux, who averages about two kills per set and Victoria Wells, who has 64 blocks on the season.
South Columbus also will play a home match, facing Wilson Beddingfield (7-10). The Bruins are led by sophomore Sophio Rios-Macedo, who is averaging an astonishing 15 kills per match. The Stallions-Bruins volleyball match will also be Saturday.
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