By By BRIAN HAINES, Brian@wdnweb.com, Sports Writer
CHOCOWINITY — Southside entered its regular season finale hoping to secure the fifth spot in the Four Rivers Conference standings and the team took a giant step towards doing that as it topped Northside 25-15, 25-18, 16-25, 25-15 on Tuesday.
It was only fitting that on the Seahawks (6-8) Senior Night that the team was led by seniors Atyana Starkie and Renikia Hodges, both of whom did a tremendous job at the net for Southside.
The Seahawks even got some playing time from senior Lindsay Mitchell, who was able to serve despite being scheduled to have reconstructive knee surgery.
Southside coach Elizabeth Pruden said that it has been a joy to coach her three seniors during their time with the volleyball team.
“Atyana Starkie is a good outside hitter and I have had her since she was a freshman,” Pruden said. “I got (Renikia) my junior year and recruited her out of my P.E. class, she just had so much raw talent and has come on strong. Lindsay has been out all season. She tore her knee apart and has to have reconstructive surgery. I let her in the game today because she is already scheduled for surgery so I let her serve just to play.”
The Seahawks came out ready to play as they rolled to a 25-15 victory in the first game thanks to some a devastating jump serve from Hodges, as well as solid all-around playing from Sondra Sparks and Macy Paramore.
“We just came out ready to play, we were hyped up,” Pruden said. “We’re coming off a huge win over Riverside and we just came out ready to play and ready to do it for our three seniors.”
Southside’s momentum carried over into the second game where it fought off a scrappy Northside team to take a 25-18 win.
While the Seahawks were sharp, the Panthers looked a little rusty as the team had not been able to practice in a few days due to construction on its gym floor.
“My girls haven’t practiced in five days because our gym floor is all tore up,” Northside coach Mandi McGaha said. “I was kind of expecting a little bit of shakiness. I thought the second game was a little better. … In the third game I realized that we haven’t practiced in five days so I probably need three people to play defense so we switched to a 6-2.”
The switch worked temporarily as Northside, which was led by Jordan Woolard, Danielle Oliver, Rachell Hollowell and Sarah Credle, jumped out to a 20-13 lead and held on to win 25-16.
The Panthers could not carry that momentum into the fourth game though, as Southside put forth a strong team effort to win 25-15. Helping the Seahawks up front was Valerie Ruffin, while Katie Jones added strong serves.
“They worked together really well,” Pruden said. “They played together and I think they wanted it more. … We might not be the tallest team but we are the scrappiest.”
For Southside it was its final game until the school finds out where it will be seeded in the playoffs, which begin Saturday, while Northside will play its regular season finale today at Perquimans.