Myrtle Beach soars past Dreher into second round of 4A volleyball playoffs

Coming into his team’s playoff opener Thursday against Dreher, Myrtle Beach volleyball coach Larry Church emphasized the desire for his team to play a complete match.

“This has been a year where we’ve beat a team handily one set, but then relax a bit and play a team close or drop the next one,” he said.

In a win-or-go home scenario, everything tends to ramp up a bit. Apparently, so does the Seahawks’ level of play.

Myrtle Beach made easy work of its visitors from the Midlands, sweeping to a 3-0 victory (25-11, 25-5, 25-13) in its Class 4A first round playoff matchup.

Gracie Davis had 12 kills for the Seahawks, while Cassie Runyon followed up with 11. Danni Hix also had 20 assists.

Worries about Dreher’s size at the net quickly faded as Myrtle Beach’s skill took over, allowing the Seahawks to cruise into the second round.

“It’s certainly a good win for us. It’s the type of clean volleyball where if you don’t make a ton of errors, you have a great chance,” Church said. “From beginning to end, I saw a constant level of play where everyone was focused on the task at hand. Nobody gave up, nobody gave in.”

▪ North Myrtle Beach 3, Chapin 0: The Chiefs made short work of Chapin in their first round Class 4A playoff match, earning a 3-0 (25-9, 25-18, 25-16) victory. Maggie Hash led the Chiefs with 14 kills, Kayla Henley offered nine while Sydney Bellamy had seven. Maddie Roy also had 21 assists in the match.

▪ Carolina Forest 3, Spring Valley 0: The Panthers are moving on to the second round, defeating Spring Valley 3-0 (25-20, 205-9, 25-12). Megan DeVaux led the way for Carolina Forest with 15 service points and 13 digs, while Alexis Tomlin had 11 kills and 16 digs.

▪ Conway 3, West Ashley 2: Earning the right to play host in its Class 5A first round matchup, the Tigers made the most of the advantage, moving on to the second round in a grueling five-setter.

▪ Summerville 3, Socastee 1: Braves see their season come to a close in four sets in the Lowcountry.

This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 10:14 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach soars past Dreher into second round of 4A volleyball playoffs."