Volleyball teams finish

A trio of Columbia County volleyball teams finished the 2007 season at the state sectionals last weekend.

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Lakeside, playing as a No. 2 seed, traveled to Woodward Academy for the first round of the Class AAAA state sectional and dropped its opening match to Dalton. The Lady Panthers finished the year with a 24-11-1 record.

Harlem, a No. 4 seed in the Class AAA state sectional, dropped its first match to No. 1 seed Sandy Creek.

Greenbrier, a No. 1 seed, eliminated two teams before falling to St. Pius X in the Class AAAA state quarterfinals.

"The first game we played them really well, but they just had more weapons than we did," Greenbrier volleyball coach Debbie Born said. "My girls had nothing to be ashamed of."

The Lady Wolfpack knocked off Ridgeland in their first match of the day. They eliminated Clarke Central in the second round to advance to within one win of the school's first-ever state semifinals appearance.

Class AAAA No. 5 St. Pius X ended Greenbrier's season with a 3-0 sweep by a score of 25-19, 25-16, 25-15.

Although the loss ended Greenbrier's season, Born said it didn't take away from the large amount of success the team has already seen this year.

Greenbrier's overall record of 45-6-1 broke the school record for volleyball wins in a season by five matches.

"This is the best year in the history of Greenbrier," Born said. "We finished in the top eight in state, won an invitational tournament in Aiken and won the region championship."

St. Pius X, Starr's Mill, McIntosh and Woodward Academy all survived the weekend and advanced to the Class AAAA state semifinals.