West Bladen and East Bladen qualified for the N.C. High School Athletic Association volleyball playoffs, according to pairings released Thursday morning.
West Bladen (14-3), runners-up in the combined Southeastern 3A/4A/5A Conference, is seeded No. 9 in 3A East and will host No. 24 Pender (5-17) Saturday at 11 a.m. in a first-round match. The winner will play at No. 9 Bartlett Yancey in the second round.
East Bladen (7-15), which finished fourth in the Carolina 1A/2A Conference, is seeded No. 19 in 2A East and will play at No. 14 Hobbton (14-6) in the first round Saturday at 1 p.m. The winner will play at No. 3 Camden County in the second round. Hobbton defeated the Eagles 3-2 and 3-1 in Carolina Conference matches this season.
West Bladen lost twice to Southeastern Conference champion South Brunswick and non-conference opponent Heide Trask this season. The 14 wins by the Knights is the most for the program since the 2013 team went 12-9.
East Bladen lost its first eight matches this season, but played better down the stretch. The Eagles won three of their last four regular season matches, then advanced to the conference tournament semifinals before losing in five sets to conference and tournament champion East Columbus.
Other region schools in the state playoffs and first-round matches include:
Southeastern Conference
5A: No. 24 Richlands at No. 5 South Brunswick
4A: No. 23 Fairmont at No. 10 Ledford
3A: No. 17 Beddingfield at No. 16 South Columbus
Carolina Conference
1A: No. 3 East Columbus, bye
2A: No. 24 West Columbus at No. 9 Pamlico County
2A: No. 23 Southside at No. 10 North Duplin