After one round of action, Lexington County has five teams that have made it to the second round of the South Carolina High School Sports League playoffs in their respective classifications. A few of these teams have reached the state quarterfinals by the time this edition went to press Oct. 24.

Lexington

The Lexington Wildcats breezed through their first round match-up against Stratford and won in straight sets. They took the first set 25-11, the second set 25-10 and the last set 25-14. 

In that match, the Wildcats were led by Kendall Vinson, who led the way with seven kills. Emily DeRienzo, Jazlyn Snow and Jasia Brunson all collected five kills each in what was a balanced Wildcats attack. Sydney Fischer recorded a game-high five serving aces and nine digs.

In the second round, the Wildcats squared off against Summerville, who defeated Socastee in their first round match-up. Just like in the first round, Lexington dominated Summerville and won the match in straight sets (25-17, 25-16, 25-19).

The dominant win over Summerville sets up a state quarterfinal matchup against Wando at home Oct. 25. Wando is coming off playoff wins against Dutch Fork and Carolina Forest. 

River Bluff

The River Bluff Gators began their playoff run with a home win against Boiling Springs. Kylie Wilson led the team with 15 kills and Caroline Tucker chipped in 12. 

Wilson also led the team in serving aces with three. Alexis Jodie led the team in digs with 12 and Masyn McClanahan recorded 10 of her own to also break double digits. Jodie also proved to be a valuable ball handler with 34 assists in the game. No other Gators player recorded more than seven.

In the second round, the Gators had to hit the road to face Mauldin. It was a close match-up with a few sets going down to the wire but River Bluff pulled out a huge road win to advance to the state quarterfinals. River Bluff took the first set by the smallest possible margin 25-23 and then lost the second set the same way 25-23. In the third set, the Gators finally took over and won convincingly 25-13 before closing the door on them in the fourth set 25-20.

The Gators will now face the winner of Rock Hill and Gaffney on the road in the state quarterfinals.

Gilbert

The Gilbert Indians dominated in their first round playoff match against Lake City. 

The Indians won in straight sets (25-3, 25-11, 25-12) and cruised into a second round match-up at home against Hanahan Oct. 24.

In the first round match, Ainsley Spencer led the team in kills with five, Meredith McEnulty led the team in aces with 12 and assists with 10.

Hanahan comes into the match against Gilbert after their first round win against Georgetown at home. 

Pelion

The Pelion Panthers advanced to the second round of the 2A playoffs after a win against Fairfield Central at home in straight sets (25-13, 25-16, 25-5).

Maggie Northcutt led the Panthers in kills during the dominant win with seven. Emma Holland led the team in serving aces with nine as well as tied for the team lead in digs with four along with Alissa Stalnaker.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, their impressive year came to an end with a road loss to Landrum in straight sets.

Pelion finished the year with a winning 14-4-1 overall record and a 7-1 record in the region, which was good enough for a second place finish. 

Gray Collegiate

The Gray Collegiate War Eagles won their first round playoff game against Greenville Tech Charter in a tight 3-2 game. 

The match went the distance with Gray taking the first set 25-20 but Greenville taking the next two 25-21 and 25-17. Gray stormed back to save their season in the fourth set 25-20 and then won the decisive fifth set in the tightest possible margin, 15-13. 

Kyah Shephard led the War Eagles with seven kills in the opening round nail-biter. Alaina Timmerman and Weslen McDowell led the squad in serving aces with five each while Avery Tucker recorded an impressive 31 digs to keep points alive.

Unfortunately for Gray, that’s as far as their season went. The War Eagles lost in the second round at home against Ninety Six in five sets. Gray Collegiate won the first set convincingly (25-10) but lost the next two (25-21 and 25-17) and put themselves in a position similar to their first round win over Greenville Tech. The War Eagles won the fourth set 25-22 to keep the match going and force a decisive fifth set but lost 17-15.