The East Hamilton and Sale Creek volleyball teams may have had a changing of the guard this past offseason, but dominance continues for each.
East Hamilton hopes its third consecutive trip to the Class AA state tournament turns out to be the charm.
Led by senior outside hitter Madison Hayes and sophomore middle hitter Maddie Allen, the Lady Hurricanes beat Red Bank by the scores of 25-14, 25-5 and 25-14 for the sectional title at home Thursday.
Hayes fired 16 kills, while Allen had eight kills and four blocks.
"With the way we are playing as a whole unit right now we are hoping, wanting and expecting to do very well at the state tournament," first-year coach Kelsey Kelley said. "We love the way we are working together all around the court. Our team is pumped and really excited. We want to go all the way."
East Hamilton (26-10) finished fifth in the state in 2017 and was third last year.
Sale Creek will return to the Class A state tournament for the fourth year in a row and fifth time in program history.
The Lady Panthers' Allison Smith had 36 digs and Lillie Morgan had 19 kills in a four-set sectional home victory over East Robertson. The set scores were 25-17, 25-19, 19-25, 25-16.
"To make it back to state is huge for this group," Sale Creek coach Erin Hill said. "Everyone outside of our team thought this would be a rebuilding year, but we knew we could do it. Our girls have done a good job living up to the legacy left before them."
Both teams will begin their search for a championship next Tuesday with opponents and times to be announced.
A 35-win season for Hixson came to a close in a five-set clash at Livingston Academy. Abby Rector and Ava Rogers combined for 36 kills, and Gabby Tench had 47 assists for the Lady Wildcats.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.