South Granville’s improbable comeback defeats Carrboro volleyball in 2A East final

South Granville’s fate is in the hands of setter Annie Preddy, and that’s a good place to be going into a state championship.

The senior handed out 50 assists in Tuesday’s N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A East final, defeating Carrboro 3-2 (25-22, 25-22, 17-25, 21-25, 15-11) and earning a second consecutive spot in the state championship game. The Vikings (29-3) will play Wheatmore this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Raleigh Convention Center.

“My dad always said ‘To win a hot game, you have to have a cool head,’” Preddy said.

Preddy, who has more than 2,000 assists over the last two seasons, is the smooth operator who kept her calm against the Jaguars (27-3), even when the Vikings lost a 2-0 lead in the match and trailed 7-1 in the decisive fifth set.

“There’s not many kids as mature at that age to be able to do that on a consistent, every day, every game basis,” South Granville coach Christy Fitzgerald said. “I don’t worry about my setter’s position, ever.”

South Granville had a balanced attack in a rematch of last year’s 2A East final – Megan Fuhr had 14 kills, Jenna Pitzer had 13 and Sarah Dickerson had 11 – and opened strong.

The Vikings ended the first set on a 9-2 run, taking advantage when Carrboro’s star player, North Carolina recruit Destiny Cox, subbed out. A similar thing happened in the second, as South Granville went on a 10-3 run to tie the set at 16-all before going on to win.

“She’s awesome. When she’s back row, you know you have to take advantage, you know you have to get the ball down,” Preddy said.

Carrboro corrected some things in the third and fourth sets, as coach Steve Scanga’s team pulled even.

Momentum belonged to the Jaguars when Cox (14 kills, six blocks) moved to the back row for a serve. Without her block at the net, the Vikings got their kills in, going from down 7-1 to up 12-8.

The Jaguars’ Fiona McGuire finished her last high school game with seven kills and eight blocks.

“In the first two games we missed a lot of serves,” Scanga said. “That was a product of nerves.”

Carrboro had won the regular-season meeting against South Granville 3-2. The Jaguars got as close as down 13-11 in the fifth set.

“Every one of these girls played their hearts out,” Scanga said. “A couple of balls go a different way, we come out winners.”

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 9:11 PM with the headline "South Granville’s improbable comeback defeats Carrboro volleyball in 2A East final."