Cardinal Gibbons sweeps Overhills in second round of 4A volleyball playoffs
The classification may be different, but the results for Cardinal Gibbons volleyball in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A playoffs remain the same.
Shaking off a sluggish start, the Crusaders rolled to a 25-16, 25-12, 25-13 victory over visiting Overhills on Tuesday to advance to the third round of the playoffs.
Briley Brind’Amour had 12 kills, six aces and five digs, and Emma Longley added nine kills and three aces for Gibbons (16-3), winners of the last six 3A state titles before moving up to 4A this season. Gibbons, seeded fifth in the East, will meet No. 4 Jack Britt in a third-round match on Thursday in Fayetteville.
“I don’t think it’s more pressure,” Longley said of trying to win a 4A title after dominating in 3A in recent years. “We get to see new teams and different kinds of competition. There are nerves, but once we get them under control we play well as a team.”
Gibbons did play well Tuesday, though it took a little bit.
Plagued by miscues in the early going, Gibbons found itself knotted in an 11-all tie midway through the first set before Overhills came undone later in the set with a slew of unforced errors. Gibbons won 14 of the final 19 points to take the opening set.
Gibbons was considerably sharper over the final two sets, as Brind’Amour and Longley asserted themselves offensively near the net. Gibbons’ serving game also kept Overhills on its heels.
Brind’Amour and Abbey Crawford each had service runs of seven straight points in the second set to help stake Gibbons to an 18-5 lead. In the third set, Brind’Amour had five straight service points to put Gibbons up 13-6 and firmly in command.
“We had a few too many errors in the beginning,” Gibbons coach Logan Barber said. “I liked that we were deciding most of the points, it’s just we weren’t deciding them all to our liking, though.
“We just had to clean up a few attacking errors, and we did that later on.”
Brind’Amour acknowledged her team started slowly, something that will need to be avoided in the coming weeks as the Crusaders seek another state title.
“We might have been trying to do too much earlier in the match,” Brind’Amour said. “We just need to make sure in our upcoming matches we come out ready to play.”
Overhills (17-9-1), located in Harnett County, advanced one round further in the state playoffs than a year ago when it got bounced in the first round by Broughton, providing some consolation for coach Tod Bonello on an otherwise frustrating evening for the Jaguars.
“We’re one of the top blocking teams in 4A, and we got away from what we’re known for,” Bonello said. “We got a few blocks in, but not nearly enough. They have a plethora of hitters.
“The first set, we were neck and neck. We felt like there was glue in our shoes in the back row, we weren’t moving around. But we only have two seniors, so we’re trying to establish something here.”
Christine Merdes added six kills and Tori Dozier had 24 assists and five digs for Gibbons.
This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 9:01 PM with the headline "Cardinal Gibbons sweeps Overhills in second round of 4A volleyball playoffs."