Scotland volleyball has won five straight conference titles. Hoggard has won 25 conference championships in 30 years.



Something do give when these two powers met on the court.



Thursday night, it gave, but not the way that the Lady Scots wanted it to.

Scotland came from two games down to tie the match a two before the Lady Vikings won the final round, handing the Lady Scots just their second loss of the season, 3-2, in the fourth round of State 4-A playoffs.

"I knew coming in it was going to be a tough game," said Scotland Coach David Barnes. "They've (Hoggard) improved since we saw them during a scrimmage earlier this season, especially with their ball control."

Hoggard (19-6) showed their prowess in game one, jumping out to an early five-point lead (12-7) and never looking back, winning, 25-15.

Scotland fought back in the second game after trailing by ten (20-10). They got to within three (21-18), but ultimately fell, 25-22. This was the first time that the Lady Scots have dropped two games in a row all season.

"They were able to pass the ball to target and have three hitters on the net. They did good job of attacking our weaknesses," Barnes said on the first two games. "I had to make some adjustments involving some freshmen coming into this kind of atmosphere."

Showing their determination, Scotland came back, and jumped out to an early lead in game three. Despite Hoggard tying the match at 11, the Lady Scots kept their composure and took the game, 25-21.

Game four turned into a complete barn-burner with the Lady Vikings looking like they would seal the deal. Leading for practically all of the game, Scotland (24-2) tied it up at 21. From there, they would take game four by a score of 26-24, thanks in part to a pair of key blocks by Whitney Campbell. The senior had a game-high four blocks to go along with 11 digs and 17 kills, also a team high.

"We've played alot of tough competition this season," Hoggard Coach Ron Strickland said. " Have to give credit to Scotland, that played a very solid game. They were able to regroup in game there and fight their way back."

With the game tied at two, both teams went to a fifth and final game. Both teams gave it all they had, but on this night, Hoggard proved to have just a little more left in their tanks. The Lady Vikings lead by as many as four (11-7) before going on to win by that many, taking the final game and the win, 15-11.

"I thought we were making surges during the game, and they would miss some touch balls that went out of bounds," said Barnes. "They called us for some over-the-net blocking and just some tough calls that didn't help us any, and it stopped our momentum."

Katherine Meyer led the way for Hoggard with 11 kills while Brittany Brown finished with 10. Shelby Goerne chipped in nine kills.

Taborah Hollingsworth complimented Campbell with 16 kills and three blocks for the Lady Scots. Josephine Yang had 18 digs to lead the team with Decausha McLean finished 16. Sarah Laviner contributed 18 service points and 10 digs. Candace Carter was very giving as well, finishing with 35 assists.

"By the time we got to game two we realized that we could play with them (Hoggard)," Barnes said after game two. "I told them that we would win game three, game four and then wrap it with game five. We just couldn't get it done in the final game, fell just short."

The Lady Vikings will travel to nationally-ranked and top-ranked team in the state, J.H. Rose (22-0) out of Greenville on Saturday.