Brazos Sports

BV volleyball heating up as playoffs continue

Brazos Valley teams in every classification have reached the fourth round of the state volleyball playoffs, earning spots in this weekend's regional tournaments and moving within two victories of the state tournament.

There are nine BV teams still alive in the postseason, including three schools that qualified for the state tournament last year -- Caldwell, Centerville and Iola.

Area teams face possible head-to-head matchups in the championships of three regions. The region with the largest Brazos Valley contingent is Class 2A's Region III with Anderson-Shiro, Franklin and Centerville gathering in Tyler. District foes occupy opposite sides of the bracket with Cameron and Caldwell in 3A Region III at Bryan's Viking Gym, while Normangee and Iola head to Tyler in Class A Region III.

The regional hosted by Bryan will begin with Caldwell playing Carthage at 6 p.m. Friday. Cameron will take on Mexia at 8 p.m. The regional final is set for 2 p.m. Saturday.

In 4A, Brenham will meet Friendswood in a Region III semifinal at 6 p.m. Friday at the Berry Center in Cypress. The other match will send Montgomery, a District 18-4A foe of the Cubettes, against Richmond Foster.

Brenham has reached the regional final in four of the last five seasons, reaching state in 2004. The Cubettes won their quarterfinal match against Magnolia, the team that beat Brenham in last year's regional championship.

Anderson-Shiro will face top-ranked White Oak at 5 p.m. Friday in the first match of the 2A Region III tournament at UT-Tyler. Second-ranked Centerville and Franklin will meet in the second semifinal at 7 p.m.

The Class A Region III tourney also will be played at Tyler. Iola will play Overton at 1 p.m. Friday, with Normangee going against Detroit at 3 p.m. The Lady Panthers of Normangee are coming off one of the most exciting matches of the playoffs, beating Goodrich 28-26, 19-25, 22-25, 25-22, 23-21 in the quarterfinals.

http://www.brazossports.com/volleyball/BV-volleyball-heating-up-as-playoffs-continue