Prep volleyball: Area teams gear up for state playoffs

The state playoffs begin Saturday with first-round matches and Randolph County teams should receive some high seeds.

Pairings are expected to be announced Thursday. It’s possible some area teams could receive byes, so they would begin with second-round matches Tuesday.

This week, teams are participating in conference tournaments in advance of the state playoffs.

Here’s a look at how the regular season wound down:

** Uwharrie Charter Academy ended the regular season on an 18-match winning streak. That put the Eagles at 22-3 for the regular season.

They went into this week’s Four Rivers Conference Tournament as the top seed.

UCA swept host Jordan-Matthews with Caroline Way notching 10 kills and four aces and Carly Rush registering 10 kills.

The Eagles swept visiting Bishop McGuinness with Way’s 20 kills and 14 digs and Sadie Upchurch’s 22 digs.

UCA also swept visiting Northwood as Emory Johnson had 21 assists and four kills.

** Southwestern Randolph blew past host Northwood in three sets and later in the week the Cougars brushed off North Moore in four sets.

Bailey Blackmon’s 16 kills and Mary Kathryn Coltrane’s 14 assists came against North Moore.

That pushed the Cougars to a five-match winning string to close the regular season.

Earlier in the week, Southwestern Randolph swept visiting Randleman with Hailey Kennedy providing 14 assists and Stella Brown had eight kills and three aces.

** Eastern Randolph defeated host North Moore in four sets, with Reagan Beaver and Vivian Underwood both racking up 26 digs. Callie Craven delivered 31 assists to go with 12 digs.

The Wildcats closed the regular season on a three-match win streak by topping visiting Jordan-Matthews in four sets.

** Randleman, the Piedmont Athletic Conference regular-season champion, responded after losing the first set to host Ledford before winning in four sets.

** Providence Grove handled visiting Wheatmore in four sets despite Alexis Holifield’s 21 kills for the Warriors and then won at Thomasville in three sets to produce a three-match winning streak.

** Asheboro dominated host Northeast Guilford and visiting Southern Guilford in three sets to finish the regular season with a four-match winning streak. The Blue Comets were third in the Triad Area Athletic Conference.

Cora Little had nine kills in the Northeast Guilford match. Against Southern Guilford, Emma Ingold had 15 aces and Emma Little notched 14 digs.