It’s been a busy few weeks full of sports in Lexington County, with multiple state title events taking place.

Recently, the volleyball, girls tennis and cross country seasons concluded after their champions were crowned. Lexington County was represented in all three events but came up short in all three, with no champions emerging. 

Despite the losses, even advancing that far in the postseason is a big accomplishment. A few teams were close to winning it all. The chips didn’t just fall their way. 

River Bluff volleyball falls short in thrilling match against powerhouse Dorman 

The Gators volleyball team was a few plays away from knocking off powerhouse Dorman in the 5A Division I volleyball championship.

River Bluff and Dorman played a thrilling match that was back-and-forth from the start. 

“They laid everything out there, and that’s a really good team,” Gator head coach Bryan Piro said. “It was a really good match.”

The contest went a full five sets and was decided by only two points. Each team played about as evenly as could be, but someone had to win. 

Dorman did not put much pressure on the Gators during the match until the final two sets. To that point, River Bluff led with more sets won and had just won set three by the largest margin of the game. 

The Cavaliers came out in the fourth and responded with their most dominant set of the match. That swung most of the momentum Dorman’s way for the shortened fifth set.

River Bluff had its fair share of errors that hurt the team’s chances. Serves into the net and spikes out of bounds accounted for a solid chunk of Dorman’s points. But on the flip side, the Gators benefited from the Cavaliers' mistakes as well. 

While they fell short in the end, this season was a strong step in the right direction for the Gator program. River Bluff made it back to the state title game for the first time in four years, and Piro is hoping this loss will motivate his group to make the next wait even shorter. 

“We’ve got good pieces that are still around,” he said. “ The experience that they just gained this year it's going to drive them. This feeling's going to hurt, and this is going to sting for a little bit, but we're going to get back here.”

Gray Collegiate girls tennis team drops close battle against A.C. Flora

The War Eagles girls tennis team gave A.C. Flora a run for its money in the 4A championship match but lost.

The Falcons defeated Gray 4-3 after doubles sister duo Emily and Catherine Smith defeated Gray’s duo for the deciding point. 

Gray Collegiate won most of the singles matches but lost both of the doubles matches, which led to their overall loss. 

Morgan Horlback of Gray beat Emily Smith. Alisa Petushko beat Carlyn Gufee, and Cicily Lokodi defeated Ruby Cecchini.

Catherine Smith beat Kate Snyder for A.C. Flora, and Liza Starvou beat Sidney Moore.

On the doubles court, the Smith sisters knocked off  Morgan Horlback and Kate Snyder. Ella Foley and Stokely Haile picked up a win over Stella Malcolm and Mary Catherine Gabrielli.

The result may have been a loss, but for Gray, this is just the beginning. The team made its first state title appearance in just three years of having a program. 

Lexington County teams compete at SCHSL cross country championships 

The most recent fall sport to conclude was cross country. 

This past weekend, teams sent their best runners to Aiken to compete in the state title meet. Lexington County was represented by a plethora of athletes, and some finished near the front of the pack. 

Lexington’s and Chapin’s boys teams had the best overall performances, finishing runner-up in the 5A Division I and II races. 

In the 5A Division I boys race, Lexington, River Bluff and Dutch Fork all had a racer finish in the top 10. 

Lexington’s Josh Voegele had the best placement in the county, placing third overall. Dutch Fork’s Evan DeMasi placed seventh. River Bluff’s Daniel Campbell was 10th. 

Easton Henderson was just outside the top 10 for Lexington, placing 11th. 

In the girls’ race, River Bluff’s Savannah Davis was the only local athlete in the top 10.

Lexington’s girls team came close to cracking the top three, finishing fourth overall. River Bluff placed eighth and Dutch Fork 13th.

Down in Division II, Chapin was the only team to place in the boys and girls races. While the boys’ second-place finish is impressive, the girls’ third-place finish is also worth being recognized. 

Both teams had few runners at the very top of the leaderboard, but the depth in the middle of the field made a huge difference. 

Irmo’s girls were the only other local Division II team to place, finishing 13th overall in the state. 

In the lower classifications, both of Pelion’s teams did a solid job, with the boys finishing fourth and the girls fifth in 2A. 

American Leadership’s boys were a few spots behind the Panthers in 11th.