No. 1 Country Day volleyball falls short in (road) state championship game
North Raleigh Christian volleyball upset top-seeded Charlotte Country Day 3-0 to win the N.C. Independent Schools 4A state championship on Saturday.
Despite being the No. 1 seed, the Bucs had to travel three hours for the game that was played on North Raleigh Christian’s home court.
“First off,” Country Day coach Anna Criss said, “all credit to them. I think they played great, really great. There were a few things that didn’t fall our way. Our girls have a lot of fight, though, and they fought tooth and nail until the end under adverse conditions.”
Criss said playing the state final, as a top seed, at the opposing team’s gym was certainly one of those conditions.
In the past, the NCISAA has often allowed the top seed to host a state final, though it has always held some team championships, like basketball, at predetermined sites.
This year, for example, top seeds hosted in field hockey, 4A tennis and in 3A and 4A soccer.
Some events were predetermined to be hosted at specific schools. NCISAA commissioner Homar Ramirez told The Observer by text that the decision around the 4A volleyball championship was made in June.
On Saturday, 1A and 2A volleyball finals were held at Grace Christian in Raleigh; 1A soccer was at N.C. Wesleyan; 1A, 2A tennis and 2A soccer were at Westchester Country Day; and 3A tennis was held at Cary Tennis Center.
Westchester Country Day, the No. 2 seed, did qualify for the 2A soccer final, playing top-seeded Gaston Day. Gaston Day won the title, playing a road game.
After Country Day volleyball beat Raleigh Ravenscroft in Tuesday’s semifinal, however, The Observer received several emails and direct messages via social media that questioned why a top-seeded team would have to play a state championship game on the home floor of a lower seeded opponent.
“We addressed that, and we did try to fight that with the state association,” Criss said. “In our handbook, it said there would be a (neutral site) championship, but it didn’t say where. About three weeks ago, it showed up. When I saw that, I went straight to my (athletic director) to talk about it. I didn’t know where we would end up as far as seeding. I knew we would be top four.”
The Bucs got the No. 1 seed and entered the finals on a six-game win streak.
And until Saturday, Country Day had shut out all of its playoff opponents.
That changed quickly in the final.
North Raleigh Christian built five- and six-point leads in the first set, winning 25-20. Country Day led 6-5 in the second before North Raleigh went on an 18-4 run. Country Day’s Mia Toguchi got a couple kills for her side after that, but North Raleigh eventually won the second comfortably, 25-14.
In the third set, the teams were tied 18-18, but North Raleigh ran off two straight points and Country Day couldn’t catch up.
North Raleigh freshman Madison Muto eventually scored the championship-winning point with a kill, giving her team the 25-22 game-3 win, and setting off a big celebration among the crowd, which appeared to be about 70 percent North Raleigh supporters.
The Knights (19-4) ended their season on a 15-game win streak. Country Day ended its season at 20-3.
Criss said North Raleigh officials worked “extra hard” to accommodate her team’s needs before the game, but admitted it was a tough loss to take, given the circumstances.
“I think I’m really proud of my team,” Criss said, “and they worked their butts off the entire season and they did a great job to earn the No. 1 seed. I hate they didn’t get the opportunity to host or it be at a neutral site. I think that was really hard. We had talked about it after we beat Ravenscroft. We got all our feelings out and were ready to move forward.
“At this point, it’s like an excuse, but it didn’t feel great (to play on the road), but at the end of the day, North Raleigh played a great game and they beat us.”
Davidson Day wins NCISAA 3A volleyball, soccer
Davidson Day beat previously unbeaten Asheville Christian 3-2 on Saturday in Raleigh to win the NCISAA 3A volleyball title.
The Patriots (24-4) won their fourth straight game and avenged a 3-1 loss to Asheville Christian in August.
Davidson Day won the 2A state title in 2023 and lost in the 2A finals in 2021 and 2022.
▪ The Patriots’ boys soccer team beat Fayetteville’s Cape Fear Academy 1-0 in the 3A soccer final. In five playoff games, Davidson Day had four shutouts and allowed one goal.
Charlotte Country Day, Gaston Day wins tennis titles
Charlotte Country Day finished an unbeaten season by beating rival Providence Day 5-2 in the state final at Charlotte Country Day on Saturday.
The Bucs lost just three matches in their championship run.
Providence Day finished 12-8.
▪ Gaston Day won its second straight tennis title, beating The Epiphany School of Global Studies from New Bern in the 2A finals.
Gaston Day finished the season 13-1.
Statesville Christian soccer, Gaston Day volleyball get titles
Statesville Christian beat The Oakwood School, from Greenville, in the 1A boys soccer championship on Saturday, winning 2-1.
The Lions (13-4) ended the season on a nine-game win streak.
▪ Gaston Day (19-10) beat Rock Hill’s Westminster Catawba 3-0 in the 2A volleyball championship.
The Spartans started the season 0-4 and were 1-5 at one point.
This story was originally published October 26, 2024 at 7:12 PM.
