CHAPEL HILL — Woods Charter isn’t supposed to be here.
The Wolves aren’t supposed to be one-loss conference volleyball champions.
They aren’t supposed to be the No. 7 seed in the 1A East.
They aren’t supposed to be state title contenders.
And yet, here they are.
Woods Charter’s (16-3, 9-1 in conference) victory over the Chatham Charter Knights (17-6, 9-2 in conference) in the Central Tar Heel 1A Conference Championship last Wednesday, 3-0, was nothing short of electric.
Hosted by Woods, a school of fewer than 200 students, it felt like the entire student body was in attendance for the Wolves’ most important match of the season to date.
“We had a few students here on Monday in the semis and they saw how Chatham Charter’s fans kind of pumped them up and got them into the match,” Scott Green, Woods Charter’s head coach, said after the win. “Social media exploded over the past few days to try and get people to come to our match and you see how effective it was.”
“You go down to Woods the other night, and good Lord,” Johnny Alston, Chatham Charter’s head volleyball coach, said in a phone call with the News + Record last Friday. “The gym’s packed, they’ve got the mascot running around in there, there are about four different signs and it was just a tough environment for any visiting team to go into.”
The Wolves’ home gym had a very different atmosphere on Wednesday than it has in years past — primarily because they’re finally winning.
Since Green took over ahead of the 2018 season, it’s been an uphill battle.
For the first three seasons of Green’s tenure (2018-2020), the Wolves finished last in their conference — including a fourth place finish out of four teams in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season — encompassing a 4-44 overall record (1-36 in the conference).
This season, it took just six games to surpass their combined win total over the past three seasons — thanks to a 5-1 start that was part of a larger 11-game win streak, which propelled them to an eventual conference title.
“It’s just a great feeling, especially after three years of finishing last in the conference,” Green said. “To go from last to conference champions, it’s just very fulfilling, very gratifying. The girls worked really hard and they deserve it.”
At the end of the regular season, the Wolves found themselves co-conference champions alongside the Knights after splitting the season series, 1-1.
After Woods Charter swept Chatham Charter in the first meeting, the second acted as Clash of the Titans-esque rematch, with the Knights, fueled by the loss and on a winning streak of their own, taking a five-set thriller at home.
In the rematch, the stars shined bright on both sides as each team’s top attacker — sophomore Lexi Smollen for the Wolves, junior Emerson Clark for the Knights — came away with 30 kills each.
“Individually, it was like each one versus the other,” Alston said with a laugh. “Emerson would kill it and Smollen would dig it, and then she’d kill it and Emerson would dig it. You could actually see that taking place.”
But on Wednesday, in the finale of the three-part series, it was Smollen and the Wolves who ran away with it.
After Smollen knocked the ball out of the back of the Knights’ zone for a Chatham Charter point to make it 15-12 in the first set, the Wolves rattled off 10 of the next 12 points, cruising to a 25-14 win and taking a one-set advantage.
The next set was simply an extension of Woods’ dominance, starting out with a 7-0 run and ending with six straight points to cap off a 25-9 second-set victory. The Wolves just needed one more set and they were conference champs.
Between both of those runs, one thing became clear, if it wasn’t already: Smollen’s ability to choose how she hits the ball — either forceful with power or gentle with finesse — and to switch between the two effortlessly, emphasizes just how special she is.
When you’re in the gym with her, there’s no overlooking her.
The 6-foot-tall sophomore towers over some of her teammates, making her presence known before she starts swinging at the ball.
When she’s in action, she’s able to hit the ball with unbelievable strength — every smack of the ball sounding akin to a gunshot — pounding balls into the floor, ricocheting them off of opposing defenders or forcing them through block attempts at the net.
But when Smollen’s opponents are least expecting it, she’s able to gracefully jump into the air and lightly tap the ball in any direction she pleases, catching defenders off guard.
Against the Knights, Smollen did both, racking up 26 kills on 49 attempts and scoring a plethora of points for the Wolves.
“She was probably mad (after the rematch loss against us), so she went out and she just pounded that ball out there,” Alston said, chuckling. “I don’t know if she’s ever hit the ball that hard before.”
As strong and talented as Smollen has been all year, she gives a lot of credit to her setter, freshman Maya Sheridan, who has set her up perfectly on kill attempts throughout the season. Wednesday was no different.
“She’s just such an amazing person,” Smollen said of Sheridan. “We’re good friends on and off the court and I feel like that connection between us just helps us bond.”
Sheridan was the only Wolf with an assist against the Knights, totaling a whopping 31 as she fed Smollen and some of her other teammates throughout the night.
She also showed even more heart, diving on the ground on a couple of occasions to save potential points. The same could be said for senior libero Jana Thompson, one of the Wolves’ most critical leaders.
“Maya’s able to get to just about any ball and set it very well, whether it’s a good pass or a bad pass,” Green said. “So that’s all of the difference in the world in volleyball because it goes from us having to make perfect passes to get a good set, to making OK passes and still getting a good set.”
While the Knights put up a good fight in the third set, the Wolves ultimately controlled it, taking the final set, 25-15, to sweep the match, 3-0.
With the win, Woods Charter earned the No. 7 seed in the 1A East region of the NCHSAA playoffs, where it hosted its first-round match against No. 26 North East Carolina Prep.
In Green’s first appearance in the state tournament on Saturday, the Wolves looked nearly flawless, allowing no more than nine points in any set en route to a 3-0 sweep. It’s Woods Charter’s third sweep in a row.
The Knights, on the other hand, also earned a postseason bid, snagging the No. 19 seed and visiting No. 14 Pamlico County in Bayboro, where they were swept, 3-0, on Saturday, despite two close final sets.
On Tuesday night (after press time for this edition), The Wolves will play host to No. 10 East Columbus in the second round, where they’ll try to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16.
However, after the struggles of the past three seasons, Green said this season is already considered a success, no matter the end result.
“This season, we just worked hard and improved every day,” Green said. “We’re a much better team now than we were day one. That’s really all I’m asking of them. I didn’t want to set any specific tournament wins or number of wins as goals (before the season), I’d rather just improve from start to finish and that’s what we’ve done.”
Reporter Victor Hensley can be reached at vhensley@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @Frezeal33.