The Chatham-Kent Golden Hawks are seeded third and the McGregor Panthers sixth at their respective Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations girls volleyball tournaments.

The Kent champion Golden Hawks are in Stratford for the OFSAA ‘AAA’ tournament while the Panthers are in Perth for the ‘AA’ provincial championships.

Both teams play round-robin games on Tuesday, leading to Wednesday’s playoff and medal games.

The Golden Hawks expected a top-four ranking and wound up with the three-seed.

Defending OFSAA champion Toronto Sir Oliver Mowat received the number-one seed while London Oakridge received the second seed and host Stratford St. Michael got the nod for fourth. St. Michael lost to Mowat in the gold-medal final last year.

The Golden Hawks are in a pool with Hamilton Barton, Toronto Lawrence Park, Cobourg St. Marys and St. Thomas Aquinas from Russell, in the Ottawa area.

The Hawks play all four pool games on Tuesday, starting at 10:30 a.m. against 19^th-seeded Barton, followed by 14^th-seeded Lawrence Park at 1:30 p.m., 8^th-seed St. Thomas Aquinas at 4:30 p.m. and 9^th-seed St. Marys at 7:30 p.m.

The championship quarterfinals take place at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, followed by the semis at 3:30 p.m., the bronze-medal game at 5:30 p.m. and the championship match at 7 p.m.

Chatham-Kent’s girl volleyball teams have won nine OFSAA medals – five gold, three silver and a bronze – in the school’s history. Their last gold came at home in 2006.

The Golden Hawks defeated Oshawa R.S. McLaughlin to win the bronze medal last year in North Bay.

Chatham-Kent won the Kent championship in a thrilling five-set victory over McGregor before sweeping Petrolia Lambton Central and Windsor St. Joseph in the SWOSSAA playdowns.

The Panthers were surprised with their sixth-seed at Perth, as veteran coach Jim Smyth was expecting anywhere from seventh to 10^th, considering his team’s youth and inexperience.

But Smyth said the Panthers may be ranked higher because of the high calibre of play in SWOSSAA.

McGregor earned the trip to OFSAA by winning the SWOSSAA challenge game against Essex after getting swept by Amherstburg General Amherst in the championship match.

The defending OFSAA champion General Amherst earned the number two seed behind WOSSA champion West Elgin. Dryden High is seeded third while Orleans E.S. Giselle Lalonde got the nod for fourth.

The Panthers are pooled with West Elgin, Sir James Dunn from Sault Ste. Marie, Mississauga St. Paul and host Perth St. John.

McGregor faces 16^th-seeded St. Paul in their opening match Tuesday at 9 a.m., followed by the 11^th-seed Dunn at noon and West Elgin at 3 p.m.

The Panthers’ final pool match is Wednesday at 8 a.m. against the 20^th-seed St. John.

The quarterfinals begin at 12:30 p.m., with the semis at 3:30 p.m., bronze-medal game at 6 p.m. and championship match at 7 p.m.

McGregor won its only OFSAA girls volleyball gold medals in 2005, after settling for silvers in 2003 and 2004.

After a three-year absence, the Panthers returned to OFSAA last year but were eliminated in the quarterfinals by General Amherst.