2022 1A Volleyball State Championship | Union Academy rallies past Perquimans late in a pair of sets to sweep Pirates
1 2 3 4 5
Union Academy (28-2) 25 25 25 X X
Perquimans (26-2) 23 18 25 X X
RALEIGH, NC – Union Academy won their second consecutive 1A State Championship, closing out Perquimans in straight sets. The Cardinals mounted two furious comebacks in late set action, one in the first set and the other in the final set, to secure the victory. Cardinals setter Lauren Munday was critical in organizing and distributing to her attackers, dishing out nearly all her team’s assists in the match on her way to being selected as the Most Valuable Player for the 1A State Championship Match. She completed her high school career with more than 2000 assists.
Union Academy trailed for most of the first set. The Cardinals got the first point of the set on a net violation by the Pirates, but Perquimans reeled off the next four points to stretch out to a three-point advantage. Perquimans eventually stretched the lead out to four when Eby Scaff slammed a ball straight down off a powerful right-handed swing to make it 12-8 ahead of a Cardinals timeout. Union Academy emerged from the timeout a bit more settled and chipped away at the Pirate lead until a Haley Holland ace knotted the score at 19. The two teams traded points, tied at 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 until Union Academy won two straight points as Gabriela Gama found the floor through the Pirate defense to give the Cardinals a hard-fought first set win, 25-23.
The Cardinals continued their late first set momentum in the second set, racing out to a 10-5 lead, highlighted by an Anna Ungerer ace and another Gama kill. The Pirates were able to trim the lead down to two at 12-10, but the Cardinals scratched out three straight points to answer and get the lead back to five. Another Union Academy ace, this one by Ranon Suttle, pushed the Cardinal advantage to 23-14, forcing a Pirate timeout. The Cardinals cruised to 25-18 second set victory and a two-sets-to-none lead.
Perquimans came out firing in the third set, blasting their way to a 12-4 lead in the early going as Victoria Williamson and Scaff both powered down a pair of kills in that rally. It looked like Perquimans would send the match to a fourth set as the Pirates cruised to a 23-18 advantage late in the set, but Union Academy mounted a furious comeback, and the Pirates were unable to put away the Cardinals. Union Academy ripped off the last seven points of the set to close the match 25-23 and win the State Championship in straight sets.
Perquimans finished the season 26-2. The Pirates were 14-0 as the champions of the Four Rivers 1A Conference. Perquimans made the school’s third appearance in an NCHSAA Volleyball State Championship, winning the Eastern Regional Finals for the first time since 2000.
Union Academy wrapped their season winning a second-consecutive State Championship with a record of 28-2. The Cardinals were 12-0 winning the Yadkin Valley 1A/2A. Coach Brooke Hill led the Cardinals to their second appearance in an NCHSAA State Championship Match.
The NCHSAA is committed to highlighting good sportsmanship and has partnered with the North Carolina Farm Bureau to recognize two participants from each state championship with the NC Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Awards. The 2022 1A Volleyball Sportsmanship Awards were presented to Haley Holland from Union Academy and Joliegh Connor from Perquimans.
2022 3A Volleyball State Championship | North Iredell holds off J.H. Rose in five set thriller
1 2 3 4 5
North Iredell (33-0) 25 16 25 23 15
J.H. Rose (28-2) 20 25 20 25 9
RALEIGH, NC – The Raiders from North Iredell survived a back-and-forth affair with J.H. Rose to win the 2022 3A State Championship in five sets. The victory was North Iredell’s third state title and first since defeating Chapel Hill in the 2017 edition.
North Iredell established dominance early in the fifth and final set, as 3A State Championship Most Valuable Player Emma Norris routinely pounded balls into the ground, earning four kills in the opening run that saw the Raiders jump out to an 8-1 lead. Norris finished the match with a dominant 24 kill performance and was truly a force on the left side of the Raider frontline.
North Iredell settled into a nice rhythm early, as Emma Norris powered a pair of early heavy kills to the floor in the first set to help the Raiders extend their lead to 11-4 in the early going. Rose hitters, led by Amelia Taft and Helen Wilford, got the Rampants back in the set, narrowing the gap to 16-14 when Emily Smith served up an ace, but North Iredell regrouped, winning the next three points and cruising to a 25-20 first set victory.
J.H. Rose responded with an emphatic 25-16 win in set two. North Iredell briefly mounted a rally in the middle of the set, tying the set at 8 and 9 thanks to attacks by Eliza Jenkins. The rally was short-lived though, as the Rampants closed the set with emphatic kills by Wilford and then Anna Bayes, both pounding balls into the floor in the middle of the Raider defense to close out the set on consecutive points.
The third set was a wild one, featuring nine ties and three lead changes, ultimately won by North Iredell 25-20. The final tie came at 18-all when Emily Campbell crushed a powerful drive straight down from a middle attack. The Raiders took the lead for good at 19-18 before stretching their lead out to 20-18 on an ace off the tape by Ailena Mykins.
The intensity of the third set was only outdone by the frenetic and fevered pitch of the fourth that saw J.H. Rose force a decisive fifth set with a 25-23 set victory. There were 12 ties in the set and six lead changes, including ties at 21, 22, and 23. Rose took the lead for good with Emily Smith’s kill to go up 24-23 and Wilford finished it off with a spike into the heart of the Raider defense for the 25th point.
J.H. Rose finished the season 28-2. The Rampants were a perfect 12-0 as the champion of the Big Carolina 3A/4A. Rose won the program’s fifth Eastern Regional Championship and appeared in the State Championship match for the first time since 2014.
North Iredell finished the year a spotless 33-0. The Raiders dominated the Western Foothills 3A with an undefeated 15-0 mark. The Raiders won the program’s third State Championship and sixth regional title.
The NCHSAA is committed to highlighting good sportsmanship and has partnered with the North Carolina Farm Bureau to recognize two participants from each state championship with the NC Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Awards. The 2022 3A Volleyball Sportsmanship Awards were presented to Layne Mills from J.H. Rose and Emily Campbell from North Iredell.
2022 2A Volleyball State Championship | McMichael gets first State Championship powering by Camden 3-1
1 2 3 4 5
McMichael (37-3) 23 25 25 25 X
Camden County (25-3) 25 20 16 19 X
RALEIGH, NC – Win number 776 for McMichael Head Coach Marty Woods, now finishing her 44th season as a head volleyball coach, carries a bit of an extra special flair. After a shaky opening set, the McMichael Phoenix stormed back to take the next three sets and win the program’s first State Championship, defeating Camden County 3-1.
Camden battled through a nip-and-tuck first set, as the two teams were tied eight different times, seven late in the set. However, they only swapped the lead three times, and Camden took the lead for good at 21-20 on an attacking error by McMichael’s Jenna Rosenbaum. Carlyn Tanis helped finish the set off with a pair of kills for the Bruins in the closing points, including the final point of the set, emphatically slamming one down to cap the set 25-23.
McMichael shook off the first set hiccup in a big way, ripping off the first nine points of the second set on Bianka Sola’s serve. The Phoenix claimed the set 25-20, as Tanis kept the Bruins close after righting the ship from a rocky start to the set. Tanis had six kills in the second, trying to bring the Bruins back from the big early deficit, but the set was all McMichael’s.
Sola, the team’s setter, also distributed the ball tremendously in the final three sets, dishing out five kills to Gracie Lovelace and Rosenbaum each in the second frame and assisting four other players in the final three sets, all McMichael wins. Sola dominated the match through distribution and was named the 2A Championship’s Most Valuable Player.
Rosenbaum finished the match with 17 kills, and Lovelace and Zoey Bradford also contributed a great number of kills, seven and 10 respectively. The Phoenix left no doubt, leading the final two sets by at least nine at least once in each set.
Camden County finished the season 25-3. The Bruins were 14-0 as the champions of the Northeastern Coastal 2A/3A. Camden won the Regional Championship for the second straight year and second all-time.
McMichael wrapped their year at 37-3. The Phoenix were 12-0 as the champions of the Mid-State 2A. They won the Regional Championship for the second time in program history and captured the program’s first State Championship.
The NCHSAA is committed to highlighting good sportsmanship and has partnered with the North Carolina Farm Bureau to recognize two participants from each state championship with the NC Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Awards. The 2022 2A Volleyball Sportsmanship Awards were presented to Peyton Carver from Camden and Anna Casto from McMichael.
2022 4A Volleyball State Championship | Millbrook sweeps past Sun Valley behind 26 kill performance by Horne
1 2 3 4 5
Sun Valley (29-3) 21 14 12 X X
Millbrook (29-1) 25 25 25 X X
RALEIGH, NC – Millbrook got a dominating performance from junior hitter, Kiarrah Horne, who slapped 26 kills to the floor in a three-set sweep of Sun Valley on the way to the Wildcats first Volleyball State Championship since 1995. Horne was selected as the Most Valuable Player for the match.
Horne dominated the first set, as she did most of the night, opening the match with five kills and three aces as she led the Wildcats to an early 9-4 lead in the set. She finished the first frame with nine kills and the three aces, setting an early tone for Millbrook.
She added another nine-kill set in the second, lifting Millbrook to a 25-14 second set victory. Sun Valley briefly rallied in the second, cutting an early five-point Millbrook advantage to two at 10-8. The Spartans hung around until Horne uncorked three kills in four points to stretch the Wildcat lead out to 20-12.
The close-out set was a similar script to the first two, with Horne dominating early, collecting three kills to stake the Wildcats to a 4-1 lead early. Her teammates rolled with the momentum through the middle of the set with Breanna McMillan and Harper Nelson both getting some kills to complement a pair of back-to-back aces by Emerson Conigliaro on the way to a 25-12 match close-out.
Sun Valley wrapped up the season at 29-3. The Spartans posted a 9-1 record on their way to winning the Southern Carolina 4A. Sun Valley appeared in the State Championship Match for the first time after winning the Regional Championship for the first time in program history.
Millbrook concluded the year 29-1. The Wildcats were 11-0 in the Northern Athletic 4A where they won the conference championship. The Wildcats won the program’s fourth State Championship and appeared in the State Championship for the first time since 1995.
The NCHSAA is committed to highlighting good sportsmanship and has partnered with the North Carolina Farm Bureau to recognize two participants from each state championship with the NC Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Awards. The 2022 4A Volleyball Sportsmanship Awards were presented to Sy’Ann Jones from Millbrook and Hailey Pearce from Sun Valley.
