The state volleyball tournament will be contested in less than two weeks at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
The quest for a berth in the big dance begins Monday around our local area with the beginning of double-elimination sectional play.
The top two teams in each section advance to regional play Saturday, Nov. 6 with two teams advancing from regional play to the state tournament.
Shady Spring is the defending Class AA state champion and the Tigers have made a strong case to become repeat champions again this year.
The junior tandem of Chloe Thompson and Meg Williams lead Class AA in hitting percentage, while senior setter Kelsie Dangerfield leads the AA schools in assists.
Herbert Hoover is second behind Shady Spring in the AA Region 3, Section 1 seeding, followed by Independence, Nicholas County and Liberty.
PikeView is the top seed in Section 2, followed by Westside, Wyoming East and Bluefield.
Both sections will start play Monday. Shady Spring will host its section, while Wyoming East will host Section 2.
The AA Region 3 tournament will start at 10 a.m. and will be played at Independence High School.
Woodrow Wilson is the top seed in Class AAA Region 3, Section 2. The Flying Eagles are followed by Greenbrier East, Princeton and Oak Hill.
Beckley and East have been the dominant teams over the years and this year is no different.
Senior Elysia Salon provides the power for Beckley and is No. 2 on the kills list in West Virginia. Fellow senior Olivia Ziolkowski is second in the state in blocks and controls the middle for the Flying Eagles.
Freshman Abby Dillon has been the key to Beckley’s hitting success with just under 1,000 assists on the year, also second best statewide. Senior Abby Wooton along with Salon are top-10 in digs.
The Spartans have again put together a strong season and have several players in the top-5 statistical leaders.
Sophomore Euodia Sauvage leads the state in digs, while senior setter Julia Smith leads the state in assists. Seniors Brooklyn Morgan and Nevaeh Wooding are amongst the five best hitters in the state, while senior Lauren Smith is fifth in aces.
Sectional play will start Tuesday at Oak Hill High School with the Red Devils playing Woodrow, while East will face off with Princeton.
The Class AAA regional tournament will be played at 2 p.m. at George Washington High School.
Greenbrier West heads-up Class A Region 3, Section 2. Charleston Catholic is the No. 2 seed with Webster County third, Greater Beckley Christian fourth and Richwood fifth.
Section 2 matches will be played at the site of the highest seed starting Monday.
After battling illness and injuries all season, the Cavaliers have played solid down the stretch and are poised to make another run to the state tournament.
Summers County and James Monroe have moved to the top of Class A Region 3, Section 1 this year and will be the favorites to advance to regional play. Each regular season match between the Bobcats and Mavericks have been five-set grinders.
Meadow Bridge, Mount View, River View and Montcalm will have the tall task of trying to defeat the Bobcats and the Mavericks.
All Section 1 matches will be played at Mount View High School starting Tuesday.
Charleston Catholic will be the site for the Class A Region 3 tournament which will start at 6 p.m.
Region 3 Volleyball Sectional Schedule
all double elimination
Class AAA
Section 2
at Oak Hill High School
Tuesday, Nov. 2
(1) No. 4 Oak Hill vs. No. 1 Woodrow Wilson, 4:30 p.m.
(2) No. 3 Princeton vs. No. 2 Greenbrier East, 4:30 p.m.
(3) Loser game 1 vs. Loser game 2
(4) Winner game 1 vs. Winner game 2
(5) Loser game 4 vs. Winner game 3
Thursday, Nov. 4
(6) Winner game 5 vs. Winner game 4, 6 p.m.
(7) if necessary
Class AA
Section 1
at Shady Spring High School
Monday, Nov. 1
(1) No. 4 Nicholas County vs. No. 3 Independence, 5:30 p.m.
(2) No. 5 Liberty vs. No. 2 Herbert Hoover, 5:30 p.m.
(3) Winner game 1 vs. No. 1 Shady Spring, 7:15 p.m.
(4) Loser game 1 vs. Loser game 2, 7:15 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 2
(5) Winner game 2 vs. Winner game 3, 5:30 p.m.
(6) Loser game 3 vs. Winner game 4, 5:30 p.m.
(7) Loser game 5 vs. Winner game 6, 7:15 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 3
(8) Winner game 5 vs. Winner game 7, 5:30 p.m.
(9) if necessary
Section 2
at Wyoming East High School
Monday, Nov. 1
(1) No. 4 Bluefield vs. No. 1 PikeView, 6 p.m.
(2) No. 3 Wyoming East vs. No. 2 Westside, 6 p.m.
(3) Loser gamer 1 vs. Loser game 2
(4) Winner game 1 vs. Winner game 2
Wednesday, Nov. 3
(5) Loser game 4 vs. Winner game 3, 6 p.m.
(6) Winner game 4 vs. Winner game 5
(7) if necessary
Class A
Section 1
at Mount View High School
Tuesday, Nov 2
(1) No. 5 Meadow Bridge vs. No. 4 Montcalm, 5:30 p.m.
(2) No. 6 Mount View vs. No. 3 River View, 5:30 p.m.
(3) Winner game 1 vs. No. 1 Summers County
(4) Winner game 2 vs. No. 1 James Monroe
(5) Loser game 3 vs. Loser game 1
(6) Loser game 4 vs. Loser game 2
Wednesday, Nov. 3
(7) Winner game 3 vs. Winner game 4, 5:30 p.m.
(8) Winner game 5 vs. Winner game 6, 5:30 p.m.
(9) Loser game 7 vs. Winner game 8
Thursday, Nov. 4
(10) Winner game 7 vs. Winner game 9
(11) if necessary
Section 2
Monday Nov. 1
at Greenbrier West High School
(1) No. 5 Richwood vs. No. 4 Greater Beckley Christian
(2) Winner game 1 vs. No. 1 Greenbrier West
at Charleston Catholic High School
(3) No. 3 Webster County vs. No. 2 Charleston Catholic
Tuesday, Nov. 2
at highest seed
(4) Winner game 2 vs. Winner Game 3
(5) Loser game 1 vs. Loser game 3
(6) Winner game 5 vs. Loser game 2
Wednesday, Nov. 3
at highest seed
(7) Loser game 4 vs. Winner game 6
(8) Winner game 4 vs. Winner game 7
