MILTON - Winning that fifth game when volleyball matches go the distance may be a priority at practice next year for certain Cobb County volleyball coaches. Or they may just focus on winning in four games or less so they can go home quicker.

There were plenty of marathon matches taking place during Saturday's Class AAAAA state sectionals at Milton High School that put events way behind schedule. Kell, North Cobb, McEachern and Lassiter were there to witness it firsthand, and all four teams succumbed in matches that went the distance.

"In a 15-point game, you don't have that many opportunities to pull back in it (if you fall behind)," said Lassiter coach Dottie Saye, whose team lost a five-game match to Etowah in the Round of 16. "Things go a lot faster."

The morning matches got under way at 9 a.m. and five of the first seven matches were all determined in five games, delaying the afternoon matches for more than two hours.

There were two more five-gamers in the afternoon matches began around dinnertime, and Milton finally punched its ticket into the Final Four in the last match of the day that concluded shortly before 12:30 a.m.

Kell had the best showing of the local teams that played at Milton, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. The Lady Longhorns grinded out a five-game win over Central Gwinnett in the first round of Bracket A that started at 9 a.m. and took Chattahoochee to five games in the quarterfinal before falling (24-26, 25, 16, 25-19, 23-25, 25-5).

"We put down some top teams this year and am really proud about that," Kell coach Gena Ridings said. "Then on Saturday we played very well, we just fell a little bit short to Chattahoochee. They did a good job and am very please with them."

North Cobb also made school history by winning its first state playoff match in five games over McEachern (22-25, 25-14, 25-20, 21-25, 25-15), and the Lady Warriors were close to making the Elite 8, but Chattahoochee stopped them in five games (25-19, 25-13, 19-25, 16-25, 15-8).

Lassiter seemed to have captured momentum against Etowah in its Round of 16 match when it tied after being down by two games and two match points. But a couple of errors and big plays by Etowah pushed the Lady Eagles forward early in the fifth game. Although Lassiter stayed close behind, the Lady Trojans couldn't generate that service run needed to catch up and fell (25-20, 25-13, 27-29, 17-25, 15-11).

"We worked hard to get back in to it," Saye said. "Etowah started strong and wouldn't let us in it, and we had to give it everything we had (in the third game) and good things were happened to us for a while."

Kell's five-game loss to Chattahoochee in the Elite 8 began in dramatic fashion when the Lady Longhorns rallied from 24-20 down in the first game and won six straight points.

However, serve-receive became an issue for Kell, and the Lady Cougars strung together 14 aces over the next two games. Then the Lady Longhorns made corrections and held the Lady Cougars to two aces for the rest of the way.

Kell pulled out a close fourth game, but Chattahoochee made too many strong plays offensively in the fifth, and the Lady Longhorns couldn't establish any rhythm.

"We stepped up on serve-receive (in the fourth game) and played really well," Ridings said. "We also started serving better and put pressure on Chattahoochee."

Emily Barnhill led Kell with seven kills and seven blocks against Chattahoochee, and Amanda Jones added six kills and seven blocks. Taylor O'Brien had 20 assists and Camille Pedraza finished with 13 digs.

North Cobb appeared sluggish in its first two games against Chattahoochee but emerged as a different team during the next two. After controlling Chattahoochee in the fourth game, the Lady Warriors were playing well enough to win the fifth, but the Lady Cougars went on a 7-1 run and maintained a comfortable lead.

Ashley Neff had 35 kills for the Lady Warriors in two matches and 7.5 blocks. J'Nai Williams added 19 kills, and Mariana Pires dished out 63 assists.

Taylor Montgomery played a huge role in Lassiter's comeback over Etowah, posting six kills in the third game and five in the fourth after hitting just six in the first two games. She finished with 18 kills against Etowah, and Hannah Reinke and Chelsea Johnson combined for 17 kills.

McEachern was nearly unstoppable at net in the fourth game of its first round match with North Cobb after the Lady Warriors reeled off two straight games. But North Cobb picked up its game in the fifth.

Tonisha Pugh had 10 kills and two blocks for McEachern, and Makeda Moore added 10 kills and six aces.

n Walker advanced to the Elite Eight of the Class AA/A state sectionals held at Savannah Country Day before Lovett stopped the Lady Wolverines (25-14, 25-14, 25-15) in the Elite Eight.

But the story of the day for Walker was its 14-25, 25-18, 22-25, 28-26, 15-11 victory over Decatur in the opening round. The Lady Wolverines lost the opening game and was down 11-3 in the second before evening the match. They faced two match points in the fourth game before winning in the fifth.

Walker coach Dan Clotfelter said his team was sluggish in the first three games against Aquinas in the next round before returning to top form in the fourth. Walker went on to win in four games.

Mackenzie Lee finished the day with 27 kills and eight aces for Walker. Sarah Kelley added 37 kills and nine aces. Alex Prather recorded 19 kills, and Abby Halpern had 48 digs.

n Hillgrove lost in four games to Dutchtown (25-10, 25-17, 22-25, 25-11) in the first round of the AAAA state sectionals at Woodward Academy.

Hillgrove coach Dana Baxter said the Lady Hawks played well on defensively behind Paige Melandro and Hannah Wright, but couldn't establish enough runs or momentum to keep up with their opponent.

acarrington@mdjonline.com

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