Top seeds prepare for volleyball playoffs
Bowie, Douglass, Surrattsville lead way in regional brackets
Roughly two-thirds of Prince George's County public high school volleyball teams will begin their quest for regional titles on Friday. Three county teams earned No. 1 seeds in their respective regions.
Bowie High (12-0) will head into the 4A South Region tournament as the top seed, and the Bulldogs will look to continue their perfect campaign on Monday against the winner of Friday's Oxon Hill-Northwestern match. The Bulldogs have won all 36 games this fall, including three-game sweeps of perennial powers Eleanor Roosevelt and Charles H. Flowers, which earned the second and third seeds, respectively. Bowie was scheduled to face Frederick Douglass in the county championship match on Wednesday, after The Gazette went to press.
"This group of girls has been playing really well together all season and they actually enjoy being around one another off the floor," said Bowie coach Eric LeMaster. "They're a talented, hard-working group and thankfully they have no issues that could work against us. Heather [Garnto] has been doing an outstanding job setting the ball to Siri [Ngundam] and Yaje [Ngundam], and our passing has been excellent all season. I really don't see us getting beat before states."
Roosevelt (10-2) earned the second seed by edging Flowers in four games on Oct. 20 when the two teams were separated by just four points, 93-89.
The two-time defending region champion Raiders will host the winner of Friday's DuVal-Wise match, and may end up with a rematch against Flowers in the region semifinals on Nov. 11. The Jaguars have a quarterfinal match against the winner of Friday's Bladensburg-Parkdale match on Monday.
"That loss to Roosevelt means that we have to go back over there to play them if we get that far," said Flowers coach Jeff Ware. "But right now my only concern is getting past Bladensburg or Parkdale. Both of those teams have tall middles. Parkdale has two girls 6-foot-2 and 6-3, and they have good servers. I've been working on getting our middles more involved in the offense. It's all about making sure the girls are in the right position to make plays."
Laurel (10-5) will host Suitland on Friday and then the winner of that match will head to High Point (8-4) on Monday. The Eagles and Spartans were tied for fourth with the same win percentage (.667), and High Point won the coin flip at the state draw to get the fourth seed. The teams split their two matches this fall, with both going five games. In a rare statistical oddity, the loser of each match accumulated more points than the winner on each occasion.
Douglass earned the top seed in the 2A South Region tournament, and county rival Gwynn Park has the second seed in the same bracket. Douglass will face the winner of Friday's Long Reach-Glenelg match on Monday, while the Yellow Jackets will host the winner of Friday's McDonough-Marriott's Ridge match. Central will travel to Oakland Mills on Friday in an opening-round match.
Surrattsville earned the top seed in the 1A South Region tournament, and the Hornets will play Monday against the winner of Friday's Forestville-Maritime Academy match. Fairmont Heights will host Reginald Lewis on Friday, and that winner will head to Southside Academy on Monday.
In the 3A South Region, Potomac will host Largo on Friday, with the winner going to LaPlata on Monday. Friendly will travel to Crossland on Friday, and the winner will visit second-seeded Huntingtown on Monday.
E-mail Ted Black at tblack@gazette.net.