Bluffton volleyball to play for Lower State title

Bluffton High School continued its sweep through the Class 3-A state playoffs, defeating North Myrtle Beach 25-18, 25-17, 25-13 in Monday's third-round contest. With the win, the Bobcats advance to their second Lower State title game in three years and will host Camden on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

In what Bobcats coach Al Stern called their best match of the season, eighth-grader Mackenzie Cooler had 13 kills while senior setter Ella Wyman had 33 assists and six kills. Kelli Cooper added seven kills and Amanda Thompson had six.

"The girls might have played better games this season, but they've never played a better match start to finish than they did tonight," Stern said. "They played awesome in every aspect, from serving to hitting to defense. (North Myrtle Beach) has some great players, but we literally overpowered them."

Kellie Cooper and Amanda Thompson helped exhibit this power, totaling 13 kills on the night. Efficient serving also aided the Region 8-AAA champs, who converted on all but five of their service attempts against a tough Chiefs squad that had won 21 matches this season. Because of this complete play, the Bobcats have dropped just one game through the postseason's first three rounds.

"We had a long trip up here and we didn't want to have wasted our time," said Wyman, who saw the Bobcats score on each of her 12 serves. "(North Myrtle Beach) had a huge crowd and it was very, very loud in the gym, so we were really pumped up. We want to go to state so bad and it showed, because we played absolutely amazing tonight."

Wednesday will mark the second consecutive season that Bluffton will face Camden in the playoffs. Last year, the Bulldogs dethroned the 2007 state champion Bobcats, surviving a five-set thriller in the third round before falling to Hilton Head High in the Lower State final.