Lady Hornets are last local volleyball team in playoffs

The South Carolina volleyball playoffs roll on this week and only one area team remains: Aiken.

The Lady Hornets eliminated Wando 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 17-25, 25-18) on Thursday to advance to the Class AAAA quarterfinals.

Meredith Clemmens led Aiken with 32 assists while Kiki Hennessey had a team-high 15 kills.

The Lady Hornets will play host to White Knoll today at 6 p.m. Aiken, third in the state, has faced White Knoll twice this season, winning both matches 3-1.

With a win, the Lady Hornets will advance to the Lower State Championship, where they could meet region rival Lexington, the only team to beat them this year.

TITLE RUN: Georgia's cross country championships are being held Saturday in Carrollton, and Lakeside will be one of the top contenders.

The Panthers come in ranked second in both the girls and boys Class AAAA polls. Marist tops both lists.

Anna Bowles narrowly missed winning a state title for Lakeside last year, finishing second overall with a time of 19:26. Her teammate, Katie Townsend , was 10th. The tandem took the top two spots in Saturday's Region 3-AAAA Championship at Blanchard Woods Park. Bowles won with a time of 19:17.

Westside's De'Andre Smalley won the Region 3-AAAA boys title and is considered a serious contender for the state title. His time of 17:27 was one of the fastest set during Georgia's 2009 Class AAAA region competitions.

STILL SWINGING: South Aiken's girls tennis team is back in action today, taking on Brookland-Cayce in the second round of the Class AAA playoffs. The Lady Thoroughbreds, the top seed from Region 5-AAA, ousted North Myrtle Beach in the first round Thursday.

Reach Joey Jones at (706) 823-3304 or joey.jones@augustachronicle.com.