RALEIGH – The 32nd edition of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state volleyball championships are slated for Saturday at historic Reynolds Coliseum on the North Carolina State Universtiy campus.
The opener of the quadruple header is for the 3-A crown, sending Greenville D.H. Conley (23-4) against West Iredell (27-5), which knocked off perennial state contender West Henderson in Tuesday night’s regional final. Conley is in the finals for the seventh time but is looking for its state crown while West lost in the 2002 2-A championship to Southern Vance in its other finals appearance.
The 2:30 match for the 4-A championship sends defending state champ Person (23-1) against Charlotte’s Myers Park (25-2). Myers Park slipped past last year’s state runner-up Providence in the regional finals.
Person, in its third consecutive state championship, is led by 6-3 Amanda Robertson, the PAC-Six Player of the Year for the second straight season who is headed to Duke. Myers Park will counter with Southwestern Conference Player of the Year Christine Perzinski, a 6-0 outside hitter.
The 1-A championship at 5 p.m. features a pair of teams who are no strangers to the finals. Louisburg (24-1) is in the championship for the eighth time, but the first time since 1997. Hendersonville is the two-time defending state champ in its 11th trip to the finals and with eight state crowns to its credit.
Senior Bailey Hunter of Hendersonville has been the MVP of the last two state finals and has committed to play for Georgia Tech. Louisburg head coach Erica Wammock is her second year at her school and was a player on the last Louisburg team that played for a state championship. Senior middle hitter Brittany Hicks is a key player for Louisburg.
The day’s program will end with the 2-A final, pitting powerful Cardinal Gibbons of Raleigh (30-2), which has won the last two state titles, against Boonville Starmount (31-3) at 7:30 p.m..
Katie Kabbes of Cardinal Gibbons is the reigning state Gatorade Player of the Year and is headed to Penn State, while teammate Katie Camp will continue her career at UCLA. The only losses on the season b y Gibbons came to a pair of California teams. Starmount, in the finals for the third time in five years, enters the championship on the 20-match winning streak and has a potent offense keyed by setter Jordan Raye.
Time Warner Cable will be providing television coverage of all four state championships on Carolina On Demand, channel 1234 on Time Warner systems. The games will be available starting on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 6, on Time Warner Cable systems statewide.
Wendy’s and the Carolina Ford Dealers are the presenting sponsors of the NCHSAA sports program. The Raleigh Sports Consortium, the City of Raleigh and the Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau serve as host city sponsors for this event.
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
32nd ANNUAL STATE VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIIONSHIPS
Reynolds Coliseum, North Carolina State University
Saturday, November 3, 2007
3-A Championship, 12 noon
Greenville D.H. Conley (23-4) vs. West Iredell (27-5)
4-A Championship, 2:30 pm
Person (23-1) vs. Charlotte Myers Park (25-2)
1-A Championship, 5 pm
Louisburg (24-1) vs. Hendersonville (26-3)
2-A Championship, 7:30 pm
Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons (30-2) vs. Boonville Starmount (31-3)
