Lady Bears, Islands meeting for third time with berth in ‘Elite 8’ on the line
Third-seed Pierce County stretched its winning streak to a school-record 11 consecutive matches with a Class 3A first round home win Friday.
The Lady Bears (29-10) ousted 30th-seed Barrow Arts and Sciences (10-21) of Region 8 with a three-set victory in the best-of-five match October 16 winning 25-19, 25-14, 25-23.
“We managed to survive,” said head coach Robbie Spires. “It was not pretty, though. Taking a few days off for fall break and then playing the match a day early exposed us as a very rusty team. Barrow had been off for a while too, but came in with nothing to lose and everything to win and challenged us in all three sets.”
Gracie Brewer had a staggering 29 digs with Isabella Marx following with 21 digs. Daisy Thigpen was credited with 15 assists while Ansley Hutcheson finished with 10 assists.
Zayleigh Raithel recorded a team-high seven kills Azalea Mobley, Nyliah Jackson and Mollie Carter had six kills apiece. Aly Yeomans blocked two shots.
The victory set the record for consecutive wins breaking the previous mark of 10 straight during the 2024 season. PCHS’s Region 3 semifinal win over Tattnall County gave the Lady Bears a schoolrecord 27th victory eclipsing the mark of 26 wins in 2023 — the second year of the program.
Pierce County advanced to second round of the state tournament for the second straight year and third time since the birth of the program in 2022.
The Lady Bears are 1-1 in the “Sweet 16” with the victory coming in 2023 with a 3-1 decision over Davidson Fine Arts. PCHS fell 3-0 to Franklin County last year.
Pierce County faces a familiar foe in 14th-seed Region 3 foe Islands (22-16) today (Wednesday, October 21) at 5 p.m. The Lady Sharks knocked off 19th-seed Murray County 3-1.
PCHS has beaten Islands twice — once in the regular season in Savannah (September 3; 19-25, 27-25, 15-7) and in the region championship match (October 10; 25-23, 2517, 25-20) at home.
Appling County (20-14), seeded 18th, eliminated 15th-seed host Miller Grove (20-13) 3-0. The Lady Pirates travel to second-seed Union County (37-6).
Brantley County (15-18), seeded 28th, fell 3-0 to fifth-seed Morgan County (24-17), winners of back-toback Class AA titles and three in four years with a 2022 AAA championship.
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