Chamblee’s Cana Dee goes up for a game-clinching kill against Harris County. (Photo by Mark Brock)

Chamblee overcame some stout play by Harris County on the way to a 3-0 sweep in the Class 5A Sweet 16 state volleyball playoff match at Chamblee on Thursday.

The Bulldogs (37-8) trailed at least once in every game only to rally for wins of 25-16, 27-25 and 25-21 to get the sweep.

After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the opening game, Chamblee fell behind 7-6 until Kyla Manning’s kill tied the game at 7-7.  Becca Evans went to the service line and promptly hit a pair of aces for a 9-7 lead. The Lady Bulldogs would never trail again in the game leading by as much as 24-15.

Cana Dee closed out the first game with a big kill on an assist from Evans for the early 1-0 lead in the best-of-five match.

Harris County (40-13) led by as much as four (20-16) late in the second game before Chamblee would rally. With Anna McDaniel serving, the Lady Bulldogs took a 21-20 lead.

The lead would flip to 23-22 in favor of the visitors as a big shot by Chamblee went just out at the back line. Chamblee would lead 24-23 and 25-24 in the final minutes before Harris County tied the game and was serving. The Evans to Manning setup for a kill gave Chamblee a 26-25 advantage and Dee again hit the game-winner off a soft floater from Harris County.

Leading 2-0 in the match, Chamblee trailed by as much as three points (13-10) before taking command with a 7-0 run. Manning had a kill and a touch shot for a point in the open court to go with a kill by Sydney Hicks to take a 17-13 advantage.

Another Manning kill and a big block of a kill attempt by Harris County by Dee made it a 19-14 lead for Chamblee.

Harris County made a run to pull within 20-19, but would get no closer.

Chamblee’s Becca Evans sets for teammate Natalie Roberts against Harris Co. (Photo by Mark Brock)

Chamblee would close out the match with a 25-21 win in the final game.

After the reseeding process, Chamblee is slotted as the No. 6 seed out of the top eight teams. This sets up a trip to take on Area 3-5A runner-up McIntosh (24-7) on Saturday at 12:30 pm in the Elite 8 round of the Class 5A state playoffs.

Class 6A State Playoffs
The Dunwoody Wildcats advanced to the Elite 8 round of the Class 6A volleyball state playoffs with a 3-0 road sweep of Effingham County on Thursday.

Dunwoody (32-16), the No. 3 seed out of the tough Area 7-6A, cruised to a relatively easy 25-10, 25-19 and 25-12 sweep of the No. 1 seeded Effingham County. It is Dunwoody’s fourth consecutive trip to the quarterfinals.

All five of the Area 7-6A teams reached the Elite 8 and after reseeding Dunwoody is the No. 4 and host No. 5 seed Cambridge which is also out of Area 7. The two teams played twice this season with Cambridge winning the regular season meeting 2-0 and Dunwoody taking a 2-1 win in the Area Tournament.

The match for a berth in the Final Four is set for 12:00 pm at Dunwoody tomorrow (Saturday).

Class 5A State Playoffs
A great season came to end for the Redan Raiders as Sonoraville knocked them out of the playoffs with a 3-1 win on Thursday in Calhoun.

Sonoraville won the first two games 25-17 and 25-17 to take the commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five match. Redan bounced back in the third set with a hard fought 25-22 victory to pull within 2-1.

Redan could not keep the momentum of the third game win and fell 25-17 to Sonoraville (27-22-1) to close out the season.

The Raiders finished the season with an outstanding 29-3 record.

DCSD VOLLEYBALL STATE RESULTS
Thursday, Oct. 20
CLASS 6A
Dunwoody (32-16) 3, Effingham Co. (22-13-2) 0
CLASS 5A
Chamblee (37-8) 3, Harris Co. (40-13) 0
CLASS 3A
Sonoraville (27-22-1) 3, Redan (29-3) 1

DCSD VOLLEYBALL STATE SCHEDULE
Saturday, Oct. 22
CLASS 6A
Cambridge (31-15) at Dunwoody (32-16), 12:00 pm
CLASS 5A
Chamblee (37-8) at McIntosh (24-7), 12:30 pm