Triangle teams rule in volleyball: Green Level (4A), Cedar Ridge (3A) win state titles
Cary’s Green Level High School was efficient and effective in sweeping Ardrey Kell of Charlotte 25-9, 25-19, 25-15 in Saturday’s N.C. 4A volleyball state final at NC State’s Reynolds Coliseum.
Per available records, and certainly at the 4A level, Green Level (27-1), a third-year school, won a volleyball state championship faster than any other NCHSAA school.
“I am shocked how well our girls came out that strong in such a big environment,” Green Level coach Alston Godbold said. “The amount of energy our student section brought, and from our bench and all the way to the floor was incredible. It kept us alive through our entire match.”
Ardrey Kell (31-2), after being held to single digits in the first set, built an 8-4 second stanza advantage. The Gators reeled off three consecutive kills followed by a Knights mishit that evened the score. An 11-9 Green Level lead preceded an Ardrey Kell timeout. Three straight Gators errors brought the Knights within 15-14, but no closer.
“This team really got better and better,” Ardrey Kell coach Zoe Bell said. “We honestly on our playoff run probably played some of our best matches. Today probably wasn’t our best, and I’ll give it to Green Level.”
Green Level 12th grader Ava Toppin opened the third set with a kill that began a 7-2 Gators run and forced another Ardrey Kell timeout. Green Level’s pre-championship enthusiasm peaked during this timeout. Green Level (founding and incumbent) principal Karen Summers, positioned in one of Valvano Arena’s lower end zones, led the Gators’ nearby upper bowl student section in one of the school’s signature cheers.
Thereafter, Green Level reeled off five straight kills (two apiece by Ellie Sampson and Olivia Hummel, and one by Lizzie Boggess) for an 18-5 lead en route to completing the sweep.
Sampson, named Championship MVP tallied 12 kills. She was one of three Gators in double figures, including Hummel (10) and Morgan Downs (10). Sampson and Hummel both tallied a team best 15 digs. Teammates Halle Gibson and Nicole Deoliveira added 14 and 12 respectively.
Alexis Shelton, who had two kills and two blocks as Ardrey Kell built its 8-4 second set lead, finished with 12 kills and 13 digs. Knights teammates Giovana Salinas and Camryn Shelton recorded 12 digs each.
▪ The outcome marked a state championship “player-coach double” for Godbold. She was a starter on Apex’s 2010 4A state championship team coached by Nikki O’Connell, now Godbold’s assistant coach.
3A: Cedar Ridge stops North Iredell
Hillsborough’s Cedar Ridge used a 16-4 first set run to rebound from a five-point deficit, secure the set, and take the first step to a 25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 25-16 win over North Iredell in Saturday’s N.C. 3A volleyball state final at NC State’s Reynolds Coliseum. The outcome secured the Red Wolves’ first ever state championship.
North Iredell reeled off five of the second set’s last six points following a Cedar Ridge timeout with a 20-18 count. The nip-and-tuck third set included 13 ties, the last at 22.
Cedar Ridge (31-2) led by as many as 11 (21-11) in the final stanza. The Red Wolves’ championship plight was capsulized by Grace Young’s diving dig that landed across the net for a 13-7 lead. Three points later, Young’s ace forced a North Iredell timeout with a 15-8 count. Championship MVP Cameron Lloyd earned an ace when her serve struck the net before landing on the Raiders’ side to give Cedar Ridge a double digits (20-10) lead.
Lloyd finished with 14 kills and 12 digs, while Young had 23 digs. North Iredell got 23 digs, too, from Tilley Collins. The Raiders’ Emma Norris put down 11 kills.
North Iredell (26-2) was in its third state final. The Raiders won titles in 2008 and 2017.
2A: SW Randolph wins third state title
Southwestern Randolph won its third N.C. state volleyball title, beating Camden behind 31 digs from championship MVP Coley Shiflet.
Southwestern Randolph’s 3-1 win ended Camden’s unbeaten season and gave the Cougars their first state title since winning back to back in 1991 and ‘92.
This story was originally published November 6, 2021 at 5:53 PM.