Perquimans ends Northside’s volleyball season in third round of playoffs

Published 2:31 am Sunday, October 27, 2024

By Jason O. Boyd

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HERTFORD, N.C. – The future of the Northside volleyball program is bright. But the time is now for Perquimans.

The Pirates used a familiar formula to get points and dispel another opponent as the Panthers’ season came to an end, 3-0, in Saturday’s third round of the Class 1-A state playoffs. The Pirates won 25-15, 25-15, 25-18.

Northside, which finished runner-up to Pamlico County in the Coastal Plains Conference, finished the season 19-5. Pamlico County (23-3) and Perquimans (24-1) squared off on Tuesday in the 1-A East final for a spot in the state finals.

Northside graduates six seniors from a 15-player roster that will certainly get stronger with freshmen from Northeast and Bath Elementary joining next year.

“I mean, you have so much to look forward to with the rotation,” Northside coach Michelle Leathers said. “People that you can see going forward that can kind of pick up where you left off in here. So, this season by no means is a wash.

“It certainly sets up for a good thing for next year. And, you know, we were able to play a lot of girls all the way around.”

Perquimans has lost in three state finals, most recently in 2022. They are now 67-34 in 35 seasons. The Pirates have seven seniors and a power team that has steamrolled through its opponents this season. Of note:

– The Pirates have now won 22 straight matches

– They’ve now beaten their last four opponents, three in the playoffs, by 3-0 margins.

– Since a 3-1 loss to 2-A power Ayden-Grifton on Aug. 19, the Pirates have lost only three sets, two to Camden County.

As she did in a five-set win over Bear Grass, Leathers rotated players in and out to try and find some momentum. Northside led at one point early in each set but once Perquimans got the ball on serve, they were able to boom big shots that either found a spot on the floor or Northside could not successfully continue play.

When the Panthers were able to get the ball over, Perquimans’ Hayleigh Solesbee was successful in setting the ball for players like Lexi Williamson, Lilly Winslow and Eleanor Howell to return with power and accuracy.

“You just gotta try and get up there and block as much as you can or put an arm out if it’s coming at you and try and get it up,” senior Mallorie Cook-Coltrain said. “That’s really all we could try to do, but we tried our best and it was a good season.”

Northside led 3-2 in the first set before Perquimans rattled off nine of the next 11 points for an 11-5 lead. When the Pirates’ lead stretched to 19-10 through the same method of scoring, it forced Leathers to take a timeout. While Northside traded points after that, the damage was done.

“We’re just going to remember this season for the rest of our high school lives,” senior Mollie Cook-Coltrain said. “We just played as a good team, and we wanted to make it there as far as we could to prove to everybody that said we couldn’t, we can.

“Because we’re such a small team, except for (senior) Madison (Scheffler), so we knew that we maybe had a chance at trying. So that’s what we did.”

It was more of the same in the second set. Northside tied it at 2-2 and trailed 5-4 before Perquimans won six of the next eight points for an 11-6 lead that forced Leathers to call another timeout. The Pirates got three of those points on big hits at the net.

Northside tied it at 2-all in the third set but lost the ball on a kill by Williamson. The Pirates won six of the next seven points to force Leathers to call another timeout.

“You know, hey, they can hit,” Leathers said. “They had like five, six, seven hitters. They’re a good team.

“I don’t want to take nothing from them. But, you know, we hung on. I think when we walked in the gym, I felt like they probably were like, ‘What are we doing here?’ But we deserve to be here.”

Northside stayed tough in that deciding third set, mixing up the lineup and getting points with smart play and errors by Perquimans. Scheffler, who had several blocks while playing defense with players like Piper Johnson and the Cook-Coltrain twins, dinked the ball over the net and to an open spot on the floor for Northside to cut the deficit to 17-13. Perquimans won five of the next six points after that for a 22-14 advantage after Catherine Howell dropped another kill on a big return at the net.

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