Polk County opened its quest for a state volleyball championship Tuesday with a 3-0 sweep of Swain in a first-round 1A playoff matchup at Polk.

The Wolverines rolled to a 25-19, 25-12, 25-13 victory to advance to Thursday’s second round, where Polk County will host Gray Stone Day. The Knights (13-7), the 22nd seed in the 1A West bracket, upset 11th seed South Stokes in their first-round match.

Sixth-seeded Polk County (16-8), which has never lost a first-round playoff game under head coach Molly Hill, also ended Thursday’s match with a bit of history as junior setter Sydney Waldman recorded the 1,0000th assist of her career just before the end of the match. She is the first Wolverine to reach that mark since Kara Overholt did so in a career that ended in 2014.

Waldman finished the match with 36 assists, as well as six digs.

Grace Lauer had 14 kills for Polk County, with Meadow Becker and Mireya Roman each adding seven and Kristen Hall finishing with six. Ansley Lynch had 18 digs for the Wolverines while Carolina Castillo served seven aces.

Swain, the 27th seed in the 1A West bracket, ends its season at 9-15.

– Submitted by PolkSports.com