HPCA rolls into state semifinals
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Covenant Day brought everything it had early on. But High Point Christian eventually took over. The third-seeded Cougars rallied hard to win the first set, then pulled away midway
through the second set and cruised in the third set to beat the sixth-seeded Lions 25-21,
25-16, 25-10 in the NCISAA 3A quarterfinals Tuesday at HPCA.
HPCA (25-4) — making its deepest run since winning the 2A title in 2009 — will face second-seeded Cannon School in the semifinals Friday at 7 p.m. at North Raleigh Christian. The winner of that match will play in the state championship Saturday at 2 at NRCA.
“We’ve been working on being aggressive, both on offense and defense,” Cougars coach Bridget Knower said, “and I really felt like we came out tonight and controlled the match. Not that there weren’t ups and downs, but the girls did a great job of playing together and hustling like crazy — which is always great for a coach to see. But we really played together and played hard, and we controlled it.
“Our serving tonight was phenomenal. And that’s a huge perk, because, when they’re out of system, their stronger hitters aren’t able to attack. So, our serving really had a big impact.… There are going to be ups and downs in every match. So, we’ve been talking about: How bad do you want it? And they
want it bad. When that happens, it’s just about the fight.”
Sydney Rowan, the team’s lone senior, had 24 kills and 14 digs for HPCA, while Abigail Lyle followed with 12 kills. Dakota Truhe added 36 assists, while Hadley Coats had 10 digs. Kyndall Vaughan and Hayden Hamlett each finished with four aces.
In the first set, the Cougars trailed 20-17 against a very energetic Covenant team. But they closed with an 8-1 run — including winning the final seven points— on a flurry of points punctuated by Rowan at the net as well as an ace by Hamlett. That helped shift the advantage their way as they began to take over.
“We just had to find a wayto score,” said Rowan, a Charlotte commit. “Our defense was on fire, and our offense just couldn’t find a way to put the ball down. But, as soon as we got past their defense, it seemed to work out in our favor. It definitely gave us the momentum going into the second and third.”
The Lions (21-13) hung around in the second set, but HPCA used a 10-2 run to build a double-digit lead, 20-10, to eventually lead the match 2-0. In the third set, the Cougars quickly jumped ahead 11-3, stretched it to double figures at 15-5 and used a 9-1 run to lead by as many as 16 before closing out
the victory.
“I really thought that, with our talent compared to theirs, that we should win tonight — but ‘should’ is always relative in any sporting event,” Knower said. “But, really, the girls really took control of that. We have been preparing since the beginning of June for this weekend.
BY MICHAEL LINDSAY
ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — Covenant Day brought everything it had early on. But High Point Christian eventually took over. The third-seeded Cougars rallied hard to win the first set, then pulled away midway
through the second set and cruised in the third set to beat the sixth-seeded Lions 25-21,
25-16, 25-10 in the NCISAA 3A quarterfinals Tuesday at HPCA.
HPCA (25-4) — making its deepest run since winning the 2A title in 2009 — will face second-seeded Cannon School in the semifinals Friday at 7 p.m. at North Raleigh Christian. The winner of that match will play in the state championship Saturday at 2 at NRCA.
“We’ve been working on being aggressive, both on offense and defense,” Cougars coach Bridget Knower said, “and I really felt like we came out tonight and controlled the match. Not that there weren’t ups and downs, but the girls did a great job of playing together and hustling like crazy — which is always great for a coach to see. But we really played together and played hard, and we controlled it.
“Our serving tonight was phenomenal. And that’s a huge perk, because, when they’re out of system, their stronger hitters aren’t able to attack. So, our serving really had a big impact.… There are going to be ups and downs in every match. So, we’ve been talking about: How bad do you want it? And they
want it bad. When that happens, it’s just about the fight.”
Sydney Rowan, the team’s lone senior, had 24 kills and 14 digs for HPCA, while Abigail Lyle followed with 12 kills. Dakota Truhe added 36 assists, while Hadley Coats had 10 digs. Kyndall Vaughan and Hayden Hamlett each finished with four aces.
In the first set, the Cougars trailed 20-17 against a very energetic Covenant team. But they closed with an 8-1 run — including winning the final seven points— on a flurry of points punctuated by Rowan at the net as well as an ace by Hamlett. That helped shift the advantage their way as they began to take over.
“We just had to find a wayto score,” said Rowan, a Charlotte commit. “Our defense was on fire, and our offense just couldn’t find a way to put the ball down. But, as soon as we got past their defense, it seemed to work out in our favor. It definitely gave us the momentum going into the second and third.”
The Lions (21-13) hung around in the second set, but HPCA used a 10-2 run to build a double-digit lead, 20-10, to eventually lead the match 2-0. In the third set, the Cougars quickly jumped ahead 11-3, stretched it to double figures at 15-5 and used a 9-1 run to lead by as many as 16 before closing out
the victory.
“I really thought that, with our talent compared to theirs, that we should win tonight — but ‘should’ is always relative in any sporting event,” Knower said. “But, really, the girls really took control of that. We have been preparing since the beginning of June for this weekend.
