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Spiders capture tourney title; Tigers earn top playoff seed
Photo by James Nix
Concord's Katie Beecher hugs Nicole Eads as her team celebrates after the Spiders defeated Jay M. Robinson in four games to win the the South Piedmont Conference Tournament championship Wednesday night at Jay M. Robinson High School.
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Published: October 23, 2009
CONCORD - It's probably fitting that three volleyball teams in the South Piedmont 3A Conference can call themselves champions.
The Concord Spiders are the latest to earn that distinction after they won the SPC Tournament.
Concord beat host Jay M. Robinson in the final, after Mount Pleasant swept Hickory Ridge in a playoff match to determine the No. 1 seed from the league for the NCHSAA playoffs.
Mount Pleasant and Hickory Ridge were co-champions during the regular season, but neither could make it through the SPC semifinals on Tuesday.
That set up Wednesday's volleyball extravaganza.
Concord and Robinson tied for third place in the conference standings. But in the semis, Concord beat Hickory Ridge, and Robinson topped Mount Pleasant.
Then the Spiders won the tourney title 25-13, 25-18, 15-25, 25-19.
"It's one of the best games we've played," said Spiders coach Leanne Havely. "I hope that whatever this momentum is that we found again, that we had at the beginning of our season, that we're just going to ride it into the playoffs."
SPC Player of the Year Heather Wilson had 8 aces to break the school record she set last year (139 in 2009, 138 in 2008). She also provided 17 kills and 11 assists.
Fellow senior Katie Beecher contributed 17 kills, Tara Trahey 9 kills and Ellie Cochran 13 assists.
Wilson and Beecher have excelled for the Spiders all season.
"It's very advantageous to have two players like that," Havely said. "To have two girls that you can rely on and that hit that hard and play that smart is a great advantage, but we're a deeper team than that.
"Tara Trahey put down 9 kills tonight. She comes in and sets for me. She's got a serve that a lot of people can't receive. Kaitlin Simpson has got beautiful hands. Molly Moser is putting up key blocks.
Meridith Moore. Hanna Pless — if she wasn't back there with Morgan Harvey and Nicole Eads, Heather wouldn't be setting. Katie wouldn't be hitting.
"At the beginning of the year, I said with the passers that we have, and the depth that I have on the bench with defense, combined with the setter and the hitters, (it could be) a lethal combination. And it showed tonight."
Mount Pleasant beat Hickory Ridge 25-23, 25-21, 26-24 in the battle for top seed.
"I've been concerned about our competitive fire," said Tigers coach Michelle Barrett. "We did what we needed to do and there was a little fire in there."
For the Tigers, Rebecca Love had 12 kills and 13 digs, Jocelyn Parnell 9 kills, 3 solo blocks and 16 digs; Elizabeth Widenhouse 7 kills and 20 digs; Samantha Kuenzli 30 assists and 3 aces; and Taylar Thomas 4 aces.
Named all-SPC were Alex Vliet, Kristen Smith and Megan Yeargin of Hickory Ridge; Love, Parnell and Kuenzli of Mount Pleasant; Wilson and Beecher of Concord; Madison Cline, Alex Kirk, Tabby Koerner and Meagan Marock of Robinson; Leslie Oman of Northwest; and Meredith Furr of Cox Mill.
Patti Chason of Hickory Ridge was voted Coach of the Year.
The volleyball playoffs start Saturday. In order, Mount Pleasant, Concord, Hickory Ridge, Robinson and Northwest Cabarrus will represent the league.
"There's a lot of good teams in our conference," Barrett said. "There really are."
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