Camden will begin defense of its AAA Upper State volleyball title as the Region 4-AAA champion.

Paige Wilson’s squad locked up another conference title by defeating Indian Land in three sets last Thursday. The win came on the heels of a four-set non-region loss to Lugoff-Elgin.

The Lady Bulldogs will host Southside, the four-place finisher from Region 2 in Wednesday’s AAA Upper State tourney opener in a 6 p.m. match inside the Dog Pound.

Camden outlasted the Lady Warriors in the first set, winning 30-28, before taking the second and third sets, 25-15 and 25-23, respectively, to get the sweep.

“This was a big match for us, ultimately determining first or second place in the region and playoff seed,” Wilson said. “We won a close first match, so we knew it would be a tough match. I was pleased with our play. We had two close sets and fought to pull them out the win.  These are the kind of matches we need to help us in playoffs.”

Whitley Kahler led the Lady Bulldogs with 12 kills with Katharine Coplin next with 11. Grace McGugan added five kills. 

Abby Irick returned to the lineup and had seven aces on a 21-for-23 serving night while adding 28 assists. Catherine Todd had three aces while having a team-best 29 passes to target. Kahler found the mark on 26 passes with Jensen Williams and Coplin going to the teammates 19 and 18 times, respectively.

Camden had little trouble in breezing past 4-AAA foe Columbia The Lady Bulldogs upended the overmatched Capitals, 25-3, 25-5 and 25-2, in a three-set sweep in which Camden received positive contributions up and down the lineup.