More Titles for Pope, Walton Volleyball

The volleyball domination continues for the Pope Lady Greyhounds and the Walton Lady Raiders. 

The Lady Greyhounds added to their recent Cobb Invitational championship over the weekend by routing Sprayberry in the finals of the Area 7AAAA tournament.

As The Marietta Daily Journal reported, the Lady Jackets lined up for post-match congratulations following the second set, forgetting momentarily that the format was a best-three-of-five. 

Pope, the defending Class AAAA state champions, is 38-2 on the season and open the state playoffs at home on Thursday against Lambert. 

The Lady Greyhounds have not lost a set since Sept. 17 against Greater Atlanta Chiristian. That was during the Lovett Block Party, a Saturday event during which they played five matches. 

Walton opens defense of its Class AAAAA state title at home on Thursday against Westlake. The Lady Raiders (23-8), who handed Pope one of its two losses, took home the Region 1-AAAAA area title over the weekend. 

There's also plenty of incentive for Pope and Walton beyond the possibility of repeating. The state championship matches in both Class AAAA and Class AAAAA will be played at Marietta High School on Oct. 29. 

The state softball playoffs begin on Tuesday. Pope (18-4) will play Dunwoody after finishing as runner-up in Region 5-AAAA North, their best region finish ever. 

In cross country, the Walton boys are Cobb champions for the first time in four years, with Pope a distant second in Saturday's meet. Walton's Brian Sullivan was the individual winner with a time of 16:06. 

The Walton girls were runners-up to Harrison, with Pope finishing sixth.