Polk County overcame Wheatmore on Saturday – and perhaps some Cream of Wheat as well.
The Wolverines opened the state 3A playoffs with a sweep of the Warriors, rolling to a 25-12, 25-13, 25-16 victory before an afternoon home crowd.
Polk County (15-11) will now become road warriors, heading Tuesday to McMichael for a second-round matchup. The clash will feature last year’s state 1A (Polk) and 2A (McMichael) state champions.
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The Wolverines controlled play for nearly all of Saturday’s match, with the Warriors (9-15) only making things close for a time in the third set. Yet Polk head coach Molly Hill wasn’t thrilled with Polk’s play at the outset.
“They had a pretty big breakfast. They all went out to eat together,” Hill said. “You could kind of tell that the big breakfast was making them sleepy, so we had to say, let’s get our energy up and just have fun with it.”
Reeve Carroll had 12 kills and Akeela Cunningham added 11 as Polk experimented with a few things ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Mayodan, where the 21-10 Phoenix will await. McMichael is led by head coach Marty Woods, the state’s all-time winningest coach, and will enter having won six of its final seven matches.
“We tend to thrive in that sort of situation and rise to the occasion, so I’m excited for that,” Hill said of the matchup. “I am looking forward to seeing how they respond against some tough teams.”
Cunningham added 11 digs and four aces, with Charley Dusenbury adding eight digs and nine assists. Abby Lewis had 12 assists.
Game time for Tuesday’s match will be announced, and the match is expected to be shown live on NFHS Network.
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