Chronicle Country volleyball teams have found more than enough competition to prepare for region play.

Over the past two weeks, SCISA Class 2A runner-up Northside Christian Academy has played host to a who’s who of South Carolina High School League programs. From Dutch Fork to Lexington to Chapin, head coach Brian Elrod has seen these matches as an opportunity to move his team further ahead in its quest for the elusive state title.

On Sept. 3, the Lady Crusaders faced the Lady Wildcats and their two-time state title nemesis Spartanburg Christian Academy. While they lost both matches in two sets, Elrod believes these non-region matches will make them “as ready as they can be” for region play and motivate them to play “at a higher level.”

“Two incredible teams,” Elrod said. “We just want to play the best of the best and just try to keep getting better every time we get out there.

“Playing against teams that are going to challenge us. Teams that hit hard, that are well-coached, they’re going to be in the right spot, they’re going to make sure that we’re in the right spot, and they’re hopefully going to expose any kinds of weaknesses that we have that we need to work on.”

The visit to Northside Christian was part of a closing stretch of non-region games for Lexington before opening region play Sept. 13 against Chapin. Two days later, the Lady Wildcats invite archrival and defending Lower State champion River Bluff to their gymnasium.

“We’ve got to set our bar and play at that level,” head coach Eric Shick said. “It’s something we’ve got work on.”