Still standing: Panthers win five-set playoff slugfest, face Perquimans in 1-A third round

Published 1:01 am Friday, October 25, 2024

By Jason O. Boyd

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BEAR GRASS, N.C. – When Northside’s volleyball team squares off with Class 1-A volleyball powerhouse Perquimans on the road Saturday, they will have the memories of a dramatic five-set win at Bear Grass Charter on their mind.

The Panthers rallied from a 2-1 deficit by winning the fourth and fifth sets to take their second-round playoff match, 23-25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-17, 15-10. The two-plus-hour rollercoaster ride left Northside fans and even the players exhausted as the Panthers kept point after point alive and, in turn, kept their season going.

When a Bear Grass Charter block of a Northside return went wide and out of bounds, it set off a wild celebration between the Panthers, a large student body that also made the trip and parents.

Northside and Perquimans square off Saturday at 5 p.m.

“We put a lot in, we put a lot in this,” Northside coach Michelle Leathers said. “And like I said, like I tell you always, we always make the adjustments.

“And this is what you play for. We don’t play to be sitting home. So it’s gonna be exciting (to face Perquimans on Saturday), it’s exciting.”

Both teams had their chances in each set but none was bigger than when Bear Grass Charter (15-7) rallied from a 17-13 first-set deficit to take a win. That took some wind out of the sails of Northside (19-4), setting up a tense five-set match with stretches where the Panthers did not look their best.

But when they did, they were hard to stop.

Bear Grass Charter featured two tall hitters in juniors Lane Gregory and Callee Perry who gave the Panthers fits and racked up lots of kills with thunder returns and big blocks. However, players like seniors Mallorie and Molly Cook-Coltrain along with others like Piper Johnson, Chloe Black, Madison Scheffler and others dove after balls, set up returns and made a number of plays that kept sure points for the Bears going.

“Honestly, it’s just the fact that we can keep going and keep playing, and we don’t want our senior season to be over,” said Mallorie Cook-Coltrain, who made several big points and saves in the final two sets.

“And we love our team, we love each other, and we love playing with each other. So I think that that pushes us to just play good together and enjoy the memories that we have on the court while we still have them.”

Black had seven service points at the start of the second set as Northside jumped to a 9-2 lead and eventually won. In the third set, Mollie Cook-Coltrain went to the bench with a sore right arm. That forced Leathers to shake up the lineup. The Panthers were trailing 19-15 and eventually dropped the set, giving the Bears a 2-1 match lead.

That’s when Northside rallied. The Panthers led throughout the fourth set, continuing to mix up the lineup and getting key contributions off the bench. Leading 22-16, Northside and Bear Grass played through two minutes for just one point, which the Panthers won.

Scheffler’s booming return for a kill gave Northside the fourth set to tie things at 2-2, setting up a dramatic fifth set. The Panthers led by as many as five points in that set before the dramatic finish.

“It was honestly just us trying to fight to win and just put in everything that we could,” Cook-Coltrain said. “And just know what we, because we know how to play and just using that knowledge to get it done, honestly, that’s what we did.

“This is very big. We know we wanted to get farther than other people that have played here before. And I think we’re higher up right now.”

 

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