Like ‘a well-oiled machine’: Wilson Christian thumps Berean Baptist in playoff opener
By Jimmy Lewis jlewis@wilsontimes.com | 265-7807 | Twitter: @JimmyLewisWT
The potential lethality of the Wilson Christian varsity volleyball team came to the forefront during the second set of Thursday’s North Carolina Christian School Association 2-A first-round playoff match with Fayetteville Berean Baptist Academy.
Leading 10-7 at the time, junior Hailey Carnes assumed the service line and piloted the Lady Chargers to a seven-point cushion.
Then, Wilson Christian’s attack embarked on one of its most impressive displays of 2020.
With senior Chloe Willard directing the back line of the defense, passes that were inconsistent to open the season were pinpointed to freshman setter Izzy Barnes. The sophomore combination of middle blocker Sophia Nesbit and outside hitter Jocelyn Bailey took over, pounding balls to the floor via the kill and block to complete a closing 15-2 run that served as the impetus for Wilson Christian’s appearance in Saturday’s quarterfinals with a 25-11, 25-9, 25-8 victory that doubled as the Lady Chargers’ senior night for Willard, Lindsay Hunter, Emily Barnes and Paige Barnes.
Emily Barnes and Paige Barnes remain in the COVID-19 contact tracing process.
WCA improved to 15-2 and will now oppose Greensboro Vandalia Christian, the No. 3 seed from the West on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Lady Chargers were left with the No. 2 seed from the East after losing a coin flip to Durham Liberty Christian during a Wednesday athletic directors meeting.
Berean, the No. 3 seed from the East, had its season ended at 2-9.
“We got done with the second set and a couple of the girls looked at me and said ‘We’re done?’” Wilson Christian head coach Ryan Vanderboegh said. “It’s over? They almost didn’t realize that we had put together so many points in a row. And that’s the way you want to play. When you can just play and not look at the scoreboard and just play as a team, I think that second set we kind of showed that we wanted it.”
Nesbit, who finished with nine kills on 21 swings, was playing in her second match since returning from contract tracing. Bailey added six kills.
However, one of the emerging aspects of Wilson Christian’s game is from the service line. The Lady Chargers produced 18 aces as a team, with junior libero Peyton Norville leading the way with five — all coming as part of a 7-0 string to close it out in the third set.
“Our serving at the beginning of the season was not very good,” Willard said. “Personally, I think I’ve had OK serves, but definitely tonight, this is the most I’ve served in a row. I think we’re spotting the floor a lot better with our serves, and it’s just gotten immensely better.”
Willard, a defensive specialist who opened the 2020 season in contact tracing, has been one of the focal points in shoring up the Lady Chargers’ passing game. Freshman setter Izzy Barnes was the beneficiary with 20 assists, something that came difficult in WCA’s lone loss against an NCCSA school this season versus Liberty Christian.
“Whenever we’re serving and they come back and the ball comes over the net, we have to get it right to our setter, Izzy,” Willard said. “Because at the beginning of the season, we weren’t. She was running all over the place, and her sets weren’t going to where she would like them to. And so, back row, we’ve been trying to get it to her and we’ve definitely improved on that.
So is the “Izzy, Izzy, Izzy” mantra a sign of selfishness? Quite the contrary in this game.
“If Izzy can’t get a good set, we don’t win,” Vanderboegh said. “And if our back row gets a great pass, our setter can set well. It’s just a well-oiled machine once that happens, and I felt like tonight, it looked like a well-oiled machine.”
Should WCA and Liberty continue to win in the postseason, the third and final meeting would come in the NCCSA 2-A title match Oct. 31 at Alamance Christian.
That hasn’t escaped the notice of the Lady Chargers.
“We’re really hoping that we get to play them again and show that we can beat them again and that it wasn’t just luck,” Willard said of the Patriots.
Vanderboegh noted that one of the keys to Wilson Christian’s success in a topsy-turvy year externally has been the ability to mesh as a unit, adopting the unofficial moniker “one team and drama free.”
“All year, we’ve played to win,” Vanderboegh said. “A lot of times, teams can start playing not to lose, they just don’t want to lose that game. But this team has decided they want to play to win. If we play to win — that’s those seniors. The senior group, the core, they all like each other. They all get along.”
