The Lady Greyhounds are 20-4 with two games to play. They finished second in the MVC to perennial powerhouse Forbush, a 2-A school that has handed North three of its losses. Leading hitters are Anya Hildreth and Victoria Branch.
"I'm excited to be in the playoffs," Coach Cindi Simmons said. "It's a great feeling, and we're looking forward to meeting North Surry."
The Lady Mustangs nearly let big leads slip away in games four and five but managed to hold off the Sugar Jets each time.
"There were some really long rallies in the match which indicated both teams were playing well," Simmons said. "Our ability to overcome their intensity during the comebacks allowed us to hold them off."
After four hard fought games, the Lady Mustangs looked like they would make a rout of game five. Tara Green served three consecutive aces, and Kaitlin Ritchie had a kill for a 5-0 lead. Three points, including an ace, from Terrie Akers and consecutive kills by Nichole Jones upped the margin to 9-0. SM would go on to leads of 10-0, 11-2 and 13-3. Enka stormed back with seven straight points cutting the gap to 13-10. The Lady Mustangs recovered with Ritchie serving the last two points of the match.
Game one saw the Sugar Jets take a 12-5 lead with seven straight points. SM rallied within 12-11 as Lindsey Lewis served six points in a row and Ritchie had a kill. Green's point gave her team a 13-12 edge, but Enka scored the last three points.
Abbey Higgins served eight straight points, including two aces, while Lewis had a couple of kills for an 11-0 lead in game three. Enka never mounted a challenge as Green served the two clinching points with Akers providing kills.
The Lady Mustangs held leads of 8-2 and 10-5 in game three, but couldn't hang on. The Sugar Jets ran off eight straight points to take the lead and go on to win the game.
Ritchie's four points, along with two kills by Akers and one from Lewis, put SM up 5-0 in game four. Five points, including an ace, by Akers, and two Lewis kills made it 10-2. Enka cut the gap to 11-9 before Ritchie's three points stemmed the tide. Lewis had two kills and Akers one as the margin reached 14-9. The Lady Mustangs finally put it away on the fourth game point with Lewis serving and Ritchie providing the kill.
"The key to the game was when we were hitting," Simmons said. "We had a tremendous effort getting balls back across the net. It was a great high school match."
Enka had eliminated the Lady Mustangs three straight seasons. The Sugar Jets had won matches to clinch playoff berths in the regular season finales the last two years and knocked SM out of the playoffs in 1996.
"We were focused going into the match and were able to maintain that throughout the night," Simmons said.
Fans planning to attend the playoff match should take I-40 to Statesville then I-77 north. Follow I-77 to Exit 100 and take N.C. 89 toward Mount Airy. The school is on the left roughly halfway between the Interstate and Mount Airy.
Tuesday's winner will be on the road Thursday, Oct. 28, against Foard, the Western Foothills Conference champion, or West Henderson, the second seed from the Mountain Athletic Conference.
Franklin won the WAC title and the league's top 3-A playoff spot at 10-2. Brevard was second at 9-3 and will represent the conference in the 2-A playoffs. SM at 8-4 was followed by Enka (6-6), Pisgah (4-8), Erwin (3-9) and Tuscola (2-10).
Two matches with Franklin have been added to help both teams tune up for the playoffs. The first was to have been Tuesday at Franklin. Results were not known at Herald press time. Another match is set for 5 p.m. today (Thursday) at the SM gym.
The Lady Mustang JVs finished the year 15-6 with a 15-3, 16-14 win over Enka. They overcame a 14-5 deficit in game two with Christy Pruett serving the last four points. Katie Loughlin served seven in the first game.
"It was a stirring comeback," Coach Nikki Young said. "They kept missing serves , and it kept us in the game. Everybody got to play, and everybody played well."
Looking back on the year, she said, "It was an exciting way to finish the season. We had a rough couple of weeks. I'm excited we finished this way."
Young said several freshmen gained experience this year which should help the JV program next season.