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CHOCOWINITY, N.C. – When the state high school volleyball playoff pairings are announced on Sunday, there’s a better-than-average chance that Southside will be among those teams that get a postseason spot.

That’s a victory for all of the members of the Seahawks, from first-year coach Misty Mooring to the seniors on that club. After several struggling seasons, the program seems to be heading in the right direction again.

“I think for me, I spent a lot of time this summer watching the coaches that do it really well and knowing that I had a little bit of time to make up on where high school volleyball is right now,” Mooring said. “But I think seeing the majority of our team put the work in this summer when they were here and I kept seeing a good chemistry developing and I think when we got that first win, I was like, “phew,” you know, like we got one and we got it early.

“And I think – and I share those things with the girls, but it was very motivating and motivational to get that early on. But that being said, it was just one (win). And so, okay, so the next time getting that second win was probably just as big.”

That first win this season was a 3-2 victory over West Craven. Then, exactly a week later, the Seahawks (7-14, 5-6) held off Martin County in five sets. The up-and-down season continued with five straight losses, including one at Beaufort County and Coastal Plains Conference foe Northside. But then the wins came again in conference play and the confidence, learning and working together continued to build.

“Yeah, I always make goals for myself during each season, but this season, I just wanted to win more games because we weren’t really good at volleyball,” senior hitter and co-captain Tamya Smith said. “And we did better.

“It’s a lot of good things she (Mooring) can say. We all kind of learned together. I mean, she just pushes us, she pushes us so we can be better than what we are.”

Sophomore libero Eleanor Davis wasn’t one of those players who was on those previous squads but saw quickly things were different this season.

“There’s so many things she’s taught me with placement and staying ready and all those types of things, and they all matter,” Davis said. “… I think we’ve definitely improved a lot, and we certainly put work in because we’ve never had a conference playoff at home before. We’ve never had enough wins to do that. I think we take advantage of it and do our best.”

Southside beat Lejeune in the first round of the conference tournament this past week. The Seahawks lost to league champ Pamlico County in the next round and finished fourth in the CPC. However, since East Carteret is a Class 2-A team, it moves the Seahawks up to the third spot in the 1-A playoff bracket.

It likely means the team will be traveling to a higher-seeded squad but the seeds for success have been planted.

“Competition is a good thing, and they need to feel that,” Mooring said. “And I don’t care what age anybody is. If you perform, if your numbers are the best, then you’re out there. And so I think they realized that, they bought into that, and they’ve been okay with that.

“So, you know, that’s been a highlight for me. And then definitely getting to play a home conference tournament game is cool. But I also want to make the (state) playoffs. I really do. I think it will be a great experience.”

 

Northside

The Panthers finished second to Pamlico County during the regular season. Northside (17-4, 8-3) beat East Carteret for the third time this season before falling to the Hurricanes in the CPC tournament final.

Three of Northside’s four losses were to Pamlico County, a team it likely won’t face until later in the Class 1-A state playoffs. The other loss was to Bear Grass Charter on the road. The Panthers beat the Bears at home the following week.

Schools like Perquimans and Bear Grass Charter could end up squaring off with the Panthers at some point. Northside is also hoping to avoid Falls Lake (22-2), which has ended Northside’s season the past two years.

 

Washington

The Pam Pack (9-7, 7-5) are looking to return to the state playoffs after losing in the first round to Nash Central last season.

Washington finished third in the Eastern Plains Conference and went 1-1 in the league tournament under first-year coach Angie Shiflett. The Pack beat North Pitt before losing to Farmville Central.