BLYTHEWOOD — A dominant season came to a heartbreaking end on Oct. 22 as the Blythewood boys volleyball team was edged 3-2 by Summerville in the second round of the SCHSL Class 5A state playoffs.
The second-seeded Bengals opened strong with a 25-17 win in the first set before Summerville, a three seed, answered by taking the next two sets, 26-24 and 25-16. Facing elimination, the Bengals rallied in the fourth frame with a 25-14 victory to force a deciding fifth set. Summerville managed to hold on for a 16-14 tiebreaker win to advance to the Lower State semifinals.
The Bengals opened the tournament on Oct. 20 with a commanding sweep over region opponent Ridge View, rolling to victory with set scores of 25-7, 25-3, and 25-11.
Despite the second-round exit, Blythewood’s fall campaign was exceptional, finishing with a 22-2 overall record. The Bengals captured the Region 4-AAAAA title with a perfect 13-0 region mark, recording sweeps in 20 of their 22 victories and suffering only one other loss all year—a tight 2-1 tournament match against Fort Mill in late September.