During a game against South Lenoir earlier this season, Swansboro's Megan Malone fires the ball across the goal. The Pirates became the fifth and final team from the Coastal Conference to qualify for the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs, earning a wild-card berth as the 32nd seed. Swansboro, one of six area teams to qualify for the playoffs, will play top-seeded Cedar Ridge on Saturday.
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Rick Scope/Daily News
After the NCHSAA announced the volleyball playoff brackets on Thursday, East Duplin coach Liz Turner was asked if the Panthers were ready, and said they probably have all coaches and all players ready for Saturday's opener. would have represented him.
“That's better,” she said. “You're at risk right now. It's win and keep going or one and done. So I hope they are.”
Six area teams earned playoff spots, down one from a year ago. And while they knew four teams finished in the top three in their conference to qualify, the remaining two teams had to hope for wild card entry.
All told, the Coastal 3-A Conference will have five teams in the postseason for the second year in a row, with Jacksonville and Swansboro in attendance. The Cardinals are seeded 27th out of 32 teams, while the Pirates are in 32nd place, just barely.
“We'll be playing another day,” Swansboro coach Kim Miller said.
Of the six area teams participating in the postseason, only two will be home. All matches in the first round will be played on Saturday, with the second round taking place next Tuesday.
Croatan (15-3), the area's top No. 8 seed, will play No. 25 Hartford County, while No. 13 East Duplin (14-6) will face No. 20 Northeastern University (12-0). 8 losses). The Panthers finished second in the East Central 2A Conference behind Croatan, winning the championship for the second straight year.
The other 2A playoff team in the area is Dixon (8-11), which was third in the ECC. The No. 22 Bulldogs beat No. 11 North Pitt (8-3).
In the 3A playoffs, Richlands (12-8), which finished third in the Coastal Conference, will become the 20th seed and travel to No. 13 Lee County (12-4), while Jacksonville (10-7) (Loss) will head to No. 20 Lee County. No. 6 Wilson Hunt (15-6) and Swansboro (9-10) sit at No. 1 Cedar Ridge (20-2).
The opening games for each match are as follows:
The Wildcats, who haven't made the playoffs in 12 years, will be making their second straight postseason trip under coach Ashton Allgood. Richlands has won three of its last four games, with its only loss coming against Croatan and a 3-0 win over Swansboro.
“We definitely had a great game against Swansboro. One of the best games we've played all season,” Allgood said. “So it’s exciting to get to the playoffs.”
The same goes for consecutive playoff berths.
“It's definitely exciting,” Allgood said. “This will be the first year that our seniors graduate. It's been a lot of fun watching them grow and watching them help guide the younger players.”
Lee County, which lost in the district final a year ago, has won six straight.
Jacksonville used a strong second half rally to tie for fourth place in the Coastal Conference, winning the last four and six of its last nine games, including a 3-2 win over West Craven for second place in the league. won the match.
This will be the Cardinals' sixth consecutive playoff appearance.
Director Destiny Maabe Kwewa could not be reached for comment.
Hunt, who lost in the first round of the playoffs last year, is also riding a winning streak. The Warriors have won each of their last five games by a score of 3-0 and nine of their last 10 games.
There were some anxious moments for Miller. It wasn't so much a night as it was a two-hour period from when preliminary spots were announced to when they were finalized, after the NCHSAA and coaches verified the records were correct.
“The countdown to 1 o'clock was a little nerve-wracking,” Miller said as he swept the gym floor before practice. “It's also possible that a team submitted an incorrect record and…we don't know if that happened, but they would be reseeded and eliminated.”
This week's predictions had the Pirates as the 31st seed. As it turned out, it was a one-time thing, and they would be facing a team that lost to eventual state champion Cardinal Gibbons in the regional semifinals a year ago.
“Hey,” Miller said, “you never know what the day will be like.”
A year after reaching the 2A East regional semifinals, Croatan is back. And coach Erika Heimforth has high hopes for the Cougars, who have won five straight and 10 of their last 11 games. And she believes the last year should help with this. time around.
“The more you're there, the more experience you have and the more comfortable you feel as things progress,” she said. “So it's great to be able to rely on that. I also think it gives them the motivation to do as much or even better than they did last year.”
“Let's hope so. It will be fun,” she said. “We're excited. This is a time for us to grow, face challenges, or go home. So we can't wait for things to get started.”
Hartford, which lost the opening game a year ago, lost the final game of the regular season and has dropped three of its last five games.
East Duplin won't be at its best after losing two starting pitchers, both seniors. Setter Mary Wallace and middle hitter Toni Sinclair were scheduled to visit Washington for a history trip planned a month ago that “just happened to coincide” with the opening game of the playoffs, Turner said.
As a result, Turner has had to tinker with his rotation.
“We try to make as few changes to the rotation as possible,” she said. “There's some options…if you go to the playoffs, obviously you're going to have to scramble. But you want everyone to be healthy, you want everyone to be there. I'm here.
“(This) probably isn't something I would want to happen in the first place, but I'm happy with the options we're considering.”
East Duplin has reached at least the second round every year dating back to at least 2006, while Northeastern has been a perennial powerhouse, reaching the third round the last three years after finishing as state runner-up in 2010 and 2011. was expanding into
And in 2009, East Duplin defeated the Eagles 3-2 to advance to the regional semifinals.
Although her daughters are lower seeds, Dixon coach Heather Moore crunched the numbers and liked what they told her. North Pitt is the No. 11 seed, sitting between Croatan and East Duplin, both teams the Bulldogs have played twice each this season.
“It’s within our ability to play the way we can,” she said. She said, “I want to go into the game prepared for a strong-hitting team.''
Dixon lost twice, 3-0 to East Duplin and once, 3-0 to Croatan, but in the other loss the Bulldogs dropped the Cougars to five sets, so Moore remains optimistic heading into the playoffs. was completed.
“We played well against Croatan for the first time, so we have the ability,” she said. “It's not going to be easy… but we have a chance to win. We just need to go out and play.”
Dixon had won three of their last four games, but lost 3-0 to Croatan in the final game of the regular season. North Pitt also lost the final game of the regular season against Farmville Central, 3-2, ending their winning streak at six.
NCHSAA Volleyball Playoffs
Round 1 – Area Team
Saturday
3-A
#20 Richlands (12-8) at #13 Lee County (12-4), 1 p.m.
#27 Jacksonville (10-7) vs. #6 Wilson Hunt (15-6), noon.
#32 Swansboro (9-10) #1 Cedar Ridge (20-2), 2 p.m.
2-A
#25 Hartford County (13-6) vs. #8 Croatan (15-3), 3 p.m.
#20 Northeastern (12-8), #13 East Duplin (14-6), 2 p.m.
#22 Dixon (8-11) at #11 North Pitt (18-3), 7 p.m.
Round 2: Tuesday
