Pope, Walton Reach Volleyball Finals

and are each one win from repeating their volleyball state championships after 3-0 Final Four victories Wednesday.

The Lady Greyhounds, who won the AAAA title last year and the AAAAA title in 2009, had trouble with semifinal foe McIntosh by their elite standards, the Marietta Daily Journal reported: Pope actually trailed in the second set, 22-19, during the match at Mount Zion High in Jonesboro.

But Pope won the next six points to avoid losing its first set of the Georgia High School Association playoffs and advanced to the championship match with a 25-13, 25-22, 25-15 win.

The top-seeded Lady Greyhounds are now 42-2 and have a 27-match winning streak. They will play third-seeded Whitewater, a 3-2 winner over , in the final at 4 p.m. Saturday at .

That match will precede the AAAAA championship match at 7 p.m. between top-seeded Walton and second-seeded Harrison.

Like their neighbors at Pope, the Lady Raiders haven’t lost a set in the GHSA playoffs in their quest for a second consecutive AAAAA championship. Their latest victim was Roswell, which lost the semifinal match at in Lilburn, 25-23, 25-9, 25-15.

Walton had a brief scare, trailing 11-3 in the first set, before waking up and romping, the MDJ reported.

The top-seeded Raiders carry a 27-8 record into the final and haven’t lost to a Georgia team since a 2-0 defeat against Pope on Aug. 20, according to Georgia Prep Country. Walton avenged that loss with over the Greyhounds on Sept. 1.

Still, it is Harrison, not Walton, that brings the No. 1 ranking in the PrepCountry.com/GACA coaches poll into the championship match.

The second-seeded Hoyas (45-4) reached the final with a 34-32, 25-21, 24-26, 22-25, 15-13 win over third-seeded North Cobb in a 2½-hour match, the MDJ reported.

GHSA.tv will webcast both championship matches live Saturday.

If you go to Marietta High, admission is $7 for the day of championship matches, also including Greater Atlanta Christian vs. Eagles Landing Christian at 11 a.m. for the AA/A title and St. Pius X vs. Sandy Creek (the other team to beat Pope this year) at 1:30 p.m. for the AAA title.