Dillon no match for Bishop England

DANIEL ISLAND — Class AA or AAA, at least in the opening round, it seems to make little difference. Bishop England breezed past Dillon, 3-0, in their Class AAA playoff opener on Tuesday. The 16-time defending state champion Lady Bishops will host Strom Thurmond Monday in the second round. Strom Thurmond, the second seed out of Region 5, defeated Wade Hampton in three sets on Wednesday. The Bishops replaced eight seniors from last year’s championship team and moved into AAA this season after dominating AA for the past three decades. On the line this season is the national record for the most consecutive state titles, as if that’s all. “It’s not going to be easy but I feel like our kids go against such a grueling schedule during the regular season that at this point they have to be prepared,” Bishops head coach Cindy Baggott said. “We’ve taken our lumps against the AAAA and AAAAA’s in the big tournaments to prepare us for anything we’ll see in the AAA playoffs. Now it’s just about execution.” Dillon, the No. 4 seed out of Region 7, took advantage of early Bishop miscues to hang around in the opening set. Bishop England won the first four points but struggled to maintain a sizeable advantage. Dillon pulled within a point, 13-12, before senior setter Rhetta Moore answered with a timely tap over the net and Emma Lawrence and Mary Grace Furmanchik followed with powerful swings. The Bishops led 22-19 when Lawrence put away a pair of kills. Moore followed with a block that forced a bad return into the net to close the 25-19 win. Bishops senior middle Kathleen Griffith took over the second half of the second set. Griffith served the final ten points and edned the 25-10 win with a touch over the net set up by a diving one-handed save by Moore. Bishop England then closed the third set, and the match, on a decisive 9-1 run, overwhelming Dillon with its powerful returns above the net in the 25-14 win. “The chemistry, overall, is really good this year,” Baggott said. “That’s one of our strengths. We try to play fast and smart. But everybody seems to play well together and that really makes a difference, especially in the playoffs.” Bishop England hasn’t dropped a single set in the opening round of any playoff opener through its historic 16-year title run. What’s more, the Bishops haven’t lost a set in any postseason match over the past four years and just have dropped just one in the past 11. Still, Baggott doesn’t expect an easy road to a 17th consecutive state title. “It’s not a situation where we can expect to get into the playoffs and roll over people,” Baggott said. “There are some other teams out there playing well right now. We’re going to have to fight a little tougher if we want to do it again.”

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DILLON NO MATCH FOR BISHOP ENGLAND

FRANKIE MANSFIELD

Moultrie News | 10/27/2016