West Johnston wraps up Greater Neuse River Conference volleyball title, beats Knightdale
When people were guessing about who might win the Greater Neuse River volleyball conference title this season, West Johnston wasn’t even on the radar.
But most of the people making those predictions hadn’t met Meredith Blake yet.
By Thursday, the William Peace alumna from Bunn, who was head coach at McGees Crossroads Middle last season, had flipped the script on everybody.
West completed its run to the regular-season title on the road on Knightdale’s Senior Day, blowing past the Knights 25-21, 25-15, 25-8.
And Knightdale was the defending conference champ.
West (14-6, 11-3) took the top seed into the GNRC Tournament on Saturday, but whatever the result the Wildcats will have home court in the first round of the state playoffs. And if they win the first-round match, they’ll be at home for the second.
West was coming off a tough season, and the year before that the Wildcats won just one match.
Blake said she knew her team had to have a quick learning curve to break out of the doldrums.
“My varsity girls didn’t know much about me,” said Blake, who is 24 but could easily pass for being a couple of years under 21 and still teaches at the middle school. “They may have known of me because of the club season, but only my freshmen on the JV really knew me.
“But now they’re like a family. They don’t even have to speak on the court to know where their teammates are going to be.”
West athletic director Jimmy Williams said he was so impressed when Blake interviewed for the job he had no concerns about her age.
“She’s so full of energy, and she really wanted the job,” Williams said. “I knew she had a lot of volleyball knowledge, and hiring her just felt right.”
Senior setter Kaylea Eubanks said Blake’s sweet off-court demeanor belies her intensity.
“She pushes us,” Eubanks said. “Without a doubt. Sometimes we walk out of practice and can hardly breathe. But she has really made us a family, and she never stops. She’s never satisfied.
“I feel like she understands us more because we’re so close in age. She knows how to talk to us. She gave us a quote to live by, ‘Never be satisfied. Always want more.’ And that’s what we’ve done.”
Abby Barbour, the junior middle hitter who is the team’s tallest and most gifted player, went through the two bad losing seasons.
“I feel like we’ve always had the talent there,” Barbour said. “But the girls had just not bonded well. Our coaches before have been fun, but they haven’t pushed us like no one has before. She always pushes us to work hard. And if we have a hard practice we always win the next match.
“She was married during her last semester of college and I know she and her husband actually met at an FFA camp (Future Farmers of America, for city folk) and a lot of girls on our team are in FFA. When she comes to practice she changes into practice clothes, but she always has on the cutest outfits. We’re like, ‘Where did you get your clothes from?’ When we go out somewhere, people just can’t believe she’s the coach.”
Senior libero Brooke Applequist said her coach is sort of like a big sister, but can throw down the hammer if the Wildcats aren’t doing what they need to do.
“Blake (yes, just her last name) is very good about encouraging us,” Applequist said. “She does not accept losing. She’s very competitive. On a personal level, we respect her and do what she tells us to do.
“I can talk to on a personal level about things other than volleyball. It’s easy to get along with her. After we graduate, a lot of us are going to want to hang out with her as friends.”
Blake said her being so in tune with her team’s young exurban culture gives her a big advantage.
“A big thing we have in common is we watch NetFlix, and I talk to several of the girls about Grey’s Anatomy or American Horror Story,” Blake said. “We do have that in common. In practice we listen to anything from ’60s music to rap to country. It’s all over the board. I let them listen to music on the bus, but I decompress. I just try to calm myself. I’m a mix, but more country. I really like to listen to Chase Rice.”
And the head coach said she feels like she has made some lasting relationships with a few young women from the team who will be like sisters to her for years.
“I feel like overall, with the help of my sister Taylor Edwards (19) and my husband Taylor Blake we made the girls a team,” Meredith Blake said. “We started the season with a dinner trip to Carolina Ale House (in Garner) when it first opened and they really have just bonded. And when I’m 30 I know some of these girls will probably be my best friends.”
This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 10:18 PM with the headline "West Johnston wraps up Greater Neuse River Conference volleyball title, beats Knightdale."