Maiden High, the No. 2 seed in the South Fork 2A volleyball tournament, won the title on Wednesday night at Maiden by beating top-seeded East Lincoln./SOUTH FORK 2A PHOTO
HobbsDailyReport.com
FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS
(Conference matches only)
SOUTH FORK 2A
E. Lincoln 13-1
Maiden 12-2
N. Lincoln 11-3
Bandys 8-6
Lincolnton 5-9
Lake Norman Charter 4-10
Newton-Conover 2-12
W. Lincoln 1-13
MAIDEN – Second-seeded Maiden High’s girls, led by Kylie Morgan’s 29 kills and four aces, captured a South Fork 2A volleyball tournament title on Wednesday night, beating top-seeded and visiting East Lincoln 3-1.
The Blue Devils — whose 12-2 regular-season record included a win at East Lincoln and a home loss to the Mustangs – prevailed 18-25, 25-20, 26-24, 28-26 to win the tournament.
Maiden had beaten No. 3 North Lincoln in a semifinal on Tuesday night to advance while East Lincoln, 13-1 in the regular season to win a title, reached the final by downing No. 4 Bandys 3-0 on Tuesday, also at Maiden.
Abbey Smith had 10 kills and seven digs for Maiden in the final with Evan Sherrill adding nine kills and nine digs, Faith Herman posting 51 assists and Lauren Xayavong providing seven digs.
The tournament title did not move Maiden up in the seeding process for the state playoffs, with pairings due out on Thursday and first round play scheduled Saturday.
East Lincoln will be seeded among the conference champions, and Maiden will be seeded with the second-place teams.
Projections have East Lincoln gaining a West No. 3 seed and an opening match at home against No. 30 Surry Central. Maiden is projected to earn a No. 10 West seed and open at home against No. 23 North Davidson.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA), using MaxPreps rankings as a factor, will determine the official state playoff brackets.
Morgan league’s top player
Morgan was named the South Fork 2A Player of the Year in a vote of conference coaches while the Coach of the Year award went to Stacy Possert of East Lincoln, who in her 10th season as head coach guided her team to the Mustangs’ first title since 2009.
East Lincoln led the all-conference picks with four players and the Blue Devils had three.
ALL-SOUTH FORK 2A VOLLEYBALL
(as voted upon by league coaches)
East Lincoln: Evelyn Kinsch, Grace Kinsch, Hailey Buchanan, Gabby Leach.
Maiden: Kylie Morgan, Faith Herman, Evan Sherrill.
Bandys: Sarah Kanipe, Emma Dutka.
North Lincoln: Katie Clements, Jenna Cashion.
Lincolnton: Kasey Gidney.
Lake Norman Charter: Hope Curtis.
Newton-Conover: Zoe Nestor.
West Lincoln: Carson Warlick.