Carrboro sweeps Croatan volleyball, moves to fourth round
The Carrboro Jaguars are in the 2A state volleyball quarterfinals for the second straight year.
Carrboro defeated Croatan 3-0 on Thursday night at Jaguars Gymnasium on scores of 25-10, 25-20 and 25-22.
The top-seeded Jaguars (26-2) will host No. 12 Eastern Randolph (19-7) on Saturday for a berth in the Eastern Regional finals.
Croatan, the champions of the East Central Conference, ends its season at 17-4-1.
Carrboro’s Destiny Cox finished with 14 kills, while Fiona McGuire had six kills and five blocks.
“Our middle blockers were great tonight,” said Carrboro coach Steve Spanga, whose squad went 10-0 in the Mid-State 2-A Conference, losing only one set along the way. “Grace Maggiore and Sarah Montross were both terrific tonight.”
The Jaguars have won 21 in a row. Their last loss came on Sept. 1 at Cedar Ridge, a defeat they avenged two weeks later.
Turning point: After dropping the first set, Croatan led the second set 13-8 before Carrboro reeled off five straight points to even the score at 13. With Zoe Hurwitz serving, Carrboro won seven consecutive points to take a 20-17 lead. The Jaguars captured the set 25-20 to take a 2-0 lead.
They said it: “Our conference isn’t always loaded with the heaviest hitters. Some of the most intense games we play are in practice. We go 6-on-6 in practice, and the loser has to do extra exercises. We call it the Wheel of Consequences. Sometimes it comes up on a free space, which allows the losers to do nothing. Sometimes it comes up with 20 burpees, which they hate the most.” Steve Spanga.
Three who mattered:
Destiny Cox: Of her 14 kills, the three biggest came during a 4-0 Carrboro run late in the second set that paved the way to a 2-0 Jaguars lead.
Sarah Montross: 22 assists, four digs and three kills.
Grace Maggiore: 13 assists, eight digs and four kills.
Elsewhere: Big 8 champion Cedar Ridge swept Topsail 3-0 Thursday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCHSAA 3A volleyball tournament.
Seeded No. 1 in the NCHSAA East, Cedar Ridge (23-3) will host No. 13 Lee County (20-4) Saturday in Hillsborough.
Lee advanced from the third round by ousting No. 21 Orange by scores of 25-18, 25-23, 25-19 Thursday. Orange finished its year at 15-10.
This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 9:30 PM with the headline "Carrboro sweeps Croatan volleyball, moves to fourth round."