BEAR CREEK — After a Mid-Carolina 1A/2A volleyball showdown between first-place Chatham Central and second-place Seaforth on Aug. 28, the defending conference champions are back in the driver’s seat.
Seaforth travelled to Chatham Central and beat the Bears, 3-0, taking over first place in the conference.
As the Hawks dominated the second and third sets, the game came down to the energy-shifting final moments of an entertaining opening set.
Chatham Central and Seaforth went back and forth to start the game with neither team looking to pull away. With seniors Karaleigh Dodson and Landry Allen and junior Sydney Sellers up front, the Bears did a good job of handling the Hawks’ serves and setting up its own offensive attacks for points.
They were also helped by some of Seaforth’s self-inflicted wounds as its service errors and late rotations put some easy points on the board for the Bears.
“We needed to focus more,” Seaforth junior Keira Rosenmarkle said.
Yet, down 20-19 in the first set, Seaforth shifted the momentum back in its favor and went on a four-point run to gain control of the set.
The run got started with a service error from Chatham Central, Rosenmarkle immediately followed that with a service ace to put the Hawks back in front. From that point, Seaforth looked like its usual self, putting power and speed behind its hits to give the Bears trouble with returning them.
The Hawks won the first set, 25-21.
“Having three games this week, we were a little rusty, and we just needed to take a second and breathe,” Seaforth junior Josie Valgus said. “We brought the energy back in the next two sets.”
Said Rosenmarkle, “Energy is a big part of our team, like hyping each other up and being like ‘it’s ok’ after we make a mistake.”
Seaforth coach Scott Green told his team to “be ready for anything” following the first set.
“They like to mix stuff up with pushes and tips and everything, so we just tried to be ready to move forward and backward at any time,” Green said.
But after settling down and entering the second set more prepared for Chatham Central’s style of play, the Hawks remained virtually unbothered for the rest of the game. The Bears began to unravel with some miscommunication and its own self-inflicted mistakes, and Seaforth rolled on to win the second set, 25-13, and the third set, 25-14.
Rosenmarkle led the Hawks with 16 kills while also contributing two service aces. Junior Maris Huneycutt carried the setting responsibilities, leading Seaforth with 18 assists.
Some of Seaforth’s younger players saw some action in the end of the second and third sets, as sophomore Abigail Valgus recorded two service aces and three assists.
“I had an opportunity to play some different setters,” Green said. “Every time they get some reps, it’s good for us, and it’s good for the team both now and in the future.”
Seaforth’s win on Wednesday was its third consecutive conference win (zero conference losses as of Aug. 28) and fourth straight 3-0 victory since losing to Apex Friendship in the season opener.
This fall has looked similar to last season in which the Hawks only dropped two sets against conference teams.
With last year’s core returning alongside the all-state addition Josie Valgus, Seaforth could very well go on a run like that again. There’s still a large chunk of conference games left, and to keep a high level of play regardless of competition throughout the season, Seaforth raises the difficulty when competing against itself in practice.
“We try to make our practices tough and go through kind of a grind, so that they’ll stay sharp and be ready," Green said.
As for Chatham Central, the Bears showed in the loss to Seaforth how dangerous of a team it can be.
New coach Bridgett Watson has a team of only seniors and juniors who have combined experience with a solid skill set in its hot start to the season. Dodson has been huge for Chatham Central as before the Seaforth game, she led the team in hitting percentage (.489), digs (80) and kills (63).
As of Sunday, the Bears are 4-1 in conference play and have won both in close games and in dominant fashion. If they can stay consistent and hang around the top of the conference standings through October, Chatham Central will be a team to look out for come playoff time.