VOLLEYBALL
North Gwinnett 3, Norcross 0
The Region 7-AAAAAAA volleyball championship title belongs to North Gwinnett after they defeated Norcross 3-0 on Thursday, Oct. 13, at North Gwinnett High School. The Bulldogs beat the Blue Devils 25-13, 25-16, 25-20.
Standouts for North in the tournament were Cailyn Hollinquest (eight kills, two aces, three digs, one block), Esosa Ehigiator (seven kills), Joya Screen (six kills, three digs, two blocks), Katherine Mollette (15 digs) and Abby Taylor (18 assists, two aces).
The Region 7-AAAAAAA awards were presented at the tournament with Screen being named Region Offensive Player of the Year and Mollette receiving the Region Defensive Player of the Year award (shared with Norcross’ Alaina Giordano). Hollinquest and Taylor were named first-team all-region.
North’s overall regular season record was 39-1 and 7-0 in Region 7-AAAAAAA.
As their region’s No. 1 seed, the Bulldogs will host the No. 4 seed from Region 8-AAAAAAA on Tuesday, Oct. 18, in the first round of the state playoffs.
Buford 3, Mill Creek 0
The Buford varsity volleyball team captured the Region 8-AAAAAAA title over Mill Creek 3-0 on Thursday, Oct. 13, at the region championship tournament held at Buford High School. The Wolves won with set scores of 25-14, 25-9, 25-9.
This is the Wolves’ ninth consecutive region title going back to 2014 when they were in Region 8-AAAA.
Senior Ashley Sturzoiu led the Buford offense with 17 kills and eight digs. Fellow senior Dylan Cummings had eight digs against the Hawks. Racking up 25 assists and four aces in Buford’s win over Mill Creek was another senior, Polly Cummings.
The Wolves’ overall regular season record was 33-5 and 5-0 in their region.
As the No. 1 seed in the region, Buford will host the No. 4 seed from Region 7-AAAAAAA, Duluth, on Tuesday, Oct. 18, in the first round of the GHSA Class AAAAAAA state playoffs.
FEATURED PHOTO: North Gwinnett senior Joya Screen has been named Region 7-AAAAAAA Offensive Player of the Year. Special photo.
