Charmed Centurions: Coastal Christian volleyball, boys soccer headed to state championship
Jackson Fuller
Wilmington StarNews
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Tuesday was one of the best days in the history of Coastal Christian High School athletics.
Saturday has a chance to be even better.
The Centurions will host a pair of state championships this weekend after their boys soccer and volleyball teams both won in the NCISAA 3A semifinals Tuesday. The boys soccer team downed a hometown rival, while the volleyball team exorcised recent demons.
A third Wilmington team, Cape Fear Academy girls tennis, also won in the semifinals and will go for the title on Saturday. Below are recaps from all three of Tuesday's games.
Volleyball
After falling in the semifinals in each of the past two seasons, Coastal Christian (31-2) is headed to its first state championship in program history after a 3-1 (25-19, 25-14, 20-25, 25-13) win over High Point Christian Academy Tuesday.
The Centurions cruised in the first two sets before losing a late lead in set three. They then fell behind 8-4 in the third set before a necessary timeout.
Head coach Dudley Raye admitted doubts started to creep into his players' heads. But this team filled with seven seniors and two Division I commits, feels like a different group, and Coastal Christian proved its championship credentials by coming out of the timeout and dominating the fourth-and-final set to secure the victory.
"We were talking about our self-worth," UNC-Asheville commit Lydia Pate said. "We know that if we bring our energy on the court, we can play to our best abilities. We didn't do that in the third set, so we really pushed it in the fourth set and got to where we needed to be."
Coastal Christian started the macth slowly, and High Point Christian Academy led 8-2 in the first set before a Pate and Kelly McConekey put on a serving clinic.
McConekey registered four aces in a seven-point run to give the Centurions an 11-9 lead. Pate followed suit, with six of her match-high 15 aces in the first set.
As a team, Coastal Christian recorded 26 aces, compared to just 12 for High Point Christian Academy.
"Kelly and Lydia are both so confident with their serves," Raye said. "Most of the time, we know they're going to get the ball in and be aggressive. We're happy with them taking the chance to miss a few, but tonight, they didn't miss many."
McConekey led Coastal Christian with 11 kills on the night, including four key ones in the critical fourth set. Elsa Southerland had seven kills, and Kora Beth Witzenman had a team-high 14 assists.
Coastal Christian will get a chance at revenge in Saturday's state championship. The Centurions will host Asheville Christian Academy, who elminated Coastal Christian in last year's semifinal.
Boys Soccer
Coastal Christian notched its first win of the season against rival Cape Fear Academy on Tuesday afternoon, and it could not have come at a better time.
Josiah Davis’ goal in the 44th minute ended up being the difference-maker in the Centurions (13-9) 1-0 win over the Hurricanes (16-3, 6-0). The junior scored his dream goal and helped send the Centurions to Saturday’s state championship.
“We had nothing to lose coming here,” Davis said. “We took (Cape Fear Academy) down when it mattered…we had everything to gain in this game, so we put it all on the table.”
Tuesday’s contest between Coastal Christian and Cape Fear Academy was the first playoff matchup between the two teams. After Coastal’s crushing loss in the semifinal round last season, the Centurions set a goal to make it even further in 2021. Now, the team’s goal has become a reality.
“Their dreams and goals were to get to a state championship this season,” Coastal Christian head coach Mike Scheffel said. “They’re getting to live that dream out, so we are going to live and enjoy this moment.”
Although the Centurions entered the game as underdogs based on both past results and playoff seeding, Coach Scheffel was confident in his team.
“We love the rivalry we have with Cape Fear,” Sheffel said. “Having the opportunity to win the most important game is a sweet win…I thought we showed a ton of composure and gutted out a tough win against a really good team.”
Coastal Christian will face off against Concord Academy Saturday, looking for its second state championship in the past three seasons.
-- Zach Kilby
Jackson Fuller
Wilmington StarNews
View Comments
Tuesday was one of the best days in the history of Coastal Christian High School athletics.
Saturday has a chance to be even better.
The Centurions will host a pair of state championships this weekend after their boys soccer and volleyball teams both won in the NCISAA 3A semifinals Tuesday. The boys soccer team downed a hometown rival, while the volleyball team exorcised recent demons.
A third Wilmington team, Cape Fear Academy girls tennis, also won in the semifinals and will go for the title on Saturday. Below are recaps from all three of Tuesday's games.
Volleyball
After falling in the semifinals in each of the past two seasons, Coastal Christian (31-2) is headed to its first state championship in program history after a 3-1 (25-19, 25-14, 20-25, 25-13) win over High Point Christian Academy Tuesday.
The Centurions cruised in the first two sets before losing a late lead in set three. They then fell behind 8-4 in the third set before a necessary timeout.
Head coach Dudley Raye admitted doubts started to creep into his players' heads. But this team filled with seven seniors and two Division I commits, feels like a different group, and Coastal Christian proved its championship credentials by coming out of the timeout and dominating the fourth-and-final set to secure the victory.
"We were talking about our self-worth," UNC-Asheville commit Lydia Pate said. "We know that if we bring our energy on the court, we can play to our best abilities. We didn't do that in the third set, so we really pushed it in the fourth set and got to where we needed to be."
Coastal Christian started the macth slowly, and High Point Christian Academy led 8-2 in the first set before a Pate and Kelly McConekey put on a serving clinic.
McConekey registered four aces in a seven-point run to give the Centurions an 11-9 lead. Pate followed suit, with six of her match-high 15 aces in the first set.
As a team, Coastal Christian recorded 26 aces, compared to just 12 for High Point Christian Academy.
"Kelly and Lydia are both so confident with their serves," Raye said. "Most of the time, we know they're going to get the ball in and be aggressive. We're happy with them taking the chance to miss a few, but tonight, they didn't miss many."
McConekey led Coastal Christian with 11 kills on the night, including four key ones in the critical fourth set. Elsa Southerland had seven kills, and Kora Beth Witzenman had a team-high 14 assists.
Coastal Christian will get a chance at revenge in Saturday's state championship. The Centurions will host Asheville Christian Academy, who elminated Coastal Christian in last year's semifinal.
Boys Soccer
Coastal Christian notched its first win of the season against rival Cape Fear Academy on Tuesday afternoon, and it could not have come at a better time.
Josiah Davis’ goal in the 44th minute ended up being the difference-maker in the Centurions (13-9) 1-0 win over the Hurricanes (16-3, 6-0). The junior scored his dream goal and helped send the Centurions to Saturday’s state championship.
“We had nothing to lose coming here,” Davis said. “We took (Cape Fear Academy) down when it mattered…we had everything to gain in this game, so we put it all on the table.”
Tuesday’s contest between Coastal Christian and Cape Fear Academy was the first playoff matchup between the two teams. After Coastal’s crushing loss in the semifinal round last season, the Centurions set a goal to make it even further in 2021. Now, the team’s goal has become a reality.
“Their dreams and goals were to get to a state championship this season,” Coastal Christian head coach Mike Scheffel said. “They’re getting to live that dream out, so we are going to live and enjoy this moment.”
Although the Centurions entered the game as underdogs based on both past results and playoff seeding, Coach Scheffel was confident in his team.
“We love the rivalry we have with Cape Fear,” Sheffel said. “Having the opportunity to win the most important game is a sweet win…I thought we showed a ton of composure and gutted out a tough win against a really good team.”
Coastal Christian will face off against Concord Academy Saturday, looking for its second state championship in the past three seasons.
-- Zach Kilby
