CARY, NC – East Wake Academy got their offense rolling early, taking a commanding 2-0 set lead with a pair of 25-15 set wins to set themselves to win the school’s first state championship. The Eagles’ combination of setter Kristen Seavy and Krista Brantley were a deadly force in the four-set win over Mountain Island Charter.
Seavy was selected as M.V.P. of the 1A Championship Match thanks to her 38 assists and four aces. She also contributed five digs and four blocks to a spectacularly well-rounded effort. The Eagle attack funneled through Seavy, though she frequently played through Brantley who smashed 28 kills with just 10 attacking errors in the match.
Mountain Island Charter got their attack going in the third set, sparked by ten kills from Lauren Pledger in the set. The Raptors ripped off nine straight points to go up 13-11 in the third. Then, after giving up a 6-0 run to the Eagles, the Raptors tacked on another 9-0 run to go up 22-17, eventually holding off East Wake Academy 25-21 to force a fourth set.
Early in the fourth set, Mountain Island appeared poised to send the match to a decisive fifth set, scoring six straight to take a 12-6 advantage. However, finding themselves down 21-11 in the fourth, the Eagles managed a side out that brought up Eilis Thomas up to the service line. Thomas sent her heavy, diving serves pounding across the net, disrupting the Raptors rhythm and the Eagles scored 12 straight points to go up 24-21, hanging on to close out the match 25-23.
The NCHSAA is committed to recognizing good sportsmanship and has partnered with the North Carolina Farm Bureau to recognize one individual from each of the participating championship teams in volleyball with the 2020-2021 Sportsmanship Awards. The recipients for this year’s 1A awards were Lauren Pledger from Mountain Island and Lexi Brantley from East Wake Academy.
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1A State Championship |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
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East Wake Acad. |
25 |
25 |
21 |
25 |
X |
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Mountain Island Ch. |
15 |
15 |
25 |
23 |
X |
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