The senior class at Gray Collegiate celebrated another Region 3-2A title Tuesday night at home.
For Senior night, the group defeated Columbia in 3 sets (25-11, 25-6, 25-11) to even its mark at 13-13-2 overall. More important, the Lady War Eagles improved to 7-0 in the region this season and 34-1 since becoming eligible in 2016.
As a result, they will have homecourt advantage through the first round of the playoffs. After consecutive appearances in the Class 2A Lower State finals, the road to the Nov. 9 state champion at River Bluff High School for Gray Collegiate goes through the Upper State.
"It's a little bit more of a challenge this year than it was last year because we're in the Upper State this year," head coach Catherine Wrighter said. "I have a different group of kids than I had last year. I had some kids that didn't play volleyball last year, but came back to play this year. I have a really talented outside freshman hitter (Za'Niya Boyles) who's been performing really well for us, too. So we're in a good position for playoffs to begin."
A potential 3rd round matchup with defending 8-time state champion St. Joseph's looms on the horizon. Despite relative inexperience against Upper State foes, Wrighter is counting on having tested her team against others in higher classifications to prepare them for the post-season.
"We've played in some challenging tournaments," she said. "We played in some challenging tournaments last year. We've really focused on playing as many (Class) 4A and 5A teams as we possibly can. We don't get those (Upper State) schools very often unless we see film or to see who they played in other tournaments. So we don't see a chance to see them for their region play. 
"But I do know Region 1-2A is a very strong region with St. Joseph's and Brashier (Middle College Charter) and Greer Middle College. Those are all strong volleyball schools
Gray Collegiate travels to Calhoun County Thursday to close out region play. The Lady War Eagles will then compete in a tournament at Cardinal Newman this weekend before opening the playoffs Oct. 23. 

Gilbert 3, Pelion 0 
The Lady Indians wrapped up a second straight Region 5-3A title and extended their region-winning streak to 18 straight games in a row Tuesday.
The scores were 25-12, 25-11, 25-18.
Gilbert (24-3, 8-0) had 17 serve aces, 29 kills and 15 digs. It will wrap up the regular season Saturday in the Mid-Carolina mini tournament at Lugoff-Elgin. 
The Lady Indians will open the Class 3A playoffs at 6 pm Wednesday at home versus Lake Marion.