PITTSBORO — As a player at Northwood from 2012-2015, Alexis Hollis strove to change the school’s volleyball image.
Now, in her first year as the team’s head coach, Hollis has been instrumental in leading the Chargers to the highest single-season win total in school history.
And it continues to rise.
Last Saturday, No. 12 Northwood (22-5, 10-2 in Central 3A conference) swept the No. 21 Terry Sanford Bulldogs (15-7, 13-1 in All-American 3A/4A) at home in the first round of the NCHSAA 3A volleyball playoffs in front of a passionate crowd on both sides.
The playoff win was not only the first of Hollis’ head coaching career, but also the first postseason victory for the Chargers since their Sweet 16 run in 2018 and their first home playoff win since 2017.
“I’m very, very proud of the girls,” Hollis said after the game. “I think today, we definitely were more of a team than we’ve ever been.”
While there are two standout players on the Chargers — senior Hannah Forbes and sophomore Asia Thigpen, both of whom played exceptionally well on Saturday — it’s the team as a whole that rose to the occasion against the Bulldogs.
If it wasn’t for senior setter Ainsley Fauth, who tallied 34 assists on the afternoon as she continued placing the ball in the perfect spot for her attackers, Forbes (19 kills) and Thigpen (13) might not have been able to contribute 32 kills between the two of them.
If it wasn’t for senior libero Olivia Thill saving points or senior Laikyn Hodges for bringing the energy or senior Kaylee Atkins and senior Annika Kearsley for imposing their presence up front, the game might not have been as much of a breeze as it was after the first set.
Yet, all of those players stepped up.
Hence why the Chargers are moving on.
“I think players have become more consistent, passing and hitting wise,” Thigpen said after the win. “Last year, we didn’t have as many players who could put the ball down, but this year, I feel like we have a lot more people.”
“I also think we’ve been through a lot together,” Forbes added. “We’ve just had so many ups and downs this season that it’s just built a lot, so that’s why we’re able to go out and get wins.”
In the first set against the Bulldogs, those ups and downs showed up.
Northwood started out sluggish.
Terry Sanford took a commanding lead out of the gate, winning six of the set’s first nine points. Eventually, the Bulldogs took a 12-8 lead on an emphatic kill by senior lead attacker Maggie Barnes, who caused Northwood fits throughout the day.
The Terry Sanford crowd, which traveled nearly 60 miles from Fayetteville to support their Bulldogs, brought both the volume and intensity, filling the gym with roars every time the Chargers made a mistake.
It was beginning to look like Northwood was in for a tough challenge.
But when you have the level of talent and chemistry that the Chargers do, it’s only a matter of time before things begin to click.
A couple of points later, Fauth laid out a beautiful set for Forbes, who leapt into the air, smashed the ball and it collided with the hardwood beneath the Bulldogs’ feet.
That point not only changed the set, tying it at 12 each, but altered the course of the match.
From there, Forbes went on to score the next three points, using both strength and finesse to keep the Bulldogs on their toes.
After the game, the Chargers credited an early timeout for their flipped switch.
“In the time out, we kind of just told ourselves that we need to match their intensity and their scoring runs because when we went to the service line, we’d only score like one point and the other team would score two or three,” Thigpen said.
“I also think we had an energy change,” Forbes added. “When we first came out, the energy was kind of dead and when we called that time out, we were like, ‘Guys, if we’re going to win, then we’re going to have to play more positive with higher energy.’ … And I think that everyone, individually, was able to step up and play their own game.”
For the rest of the set, it was all Forbes and Thigpen, essentially taking turns scoring to maintain their lead. With the score 24-20, Forbes batted up a moonshot pass in the direction of Thigpen, who forcefully slammed it into the body of Bulldogs junior Sarah Stone, who couldn’t handle it as it fell to the floor.
The Chargers won the first set, 25-20.
But in the final two sets, it was all Northwood. And it wasn’t particularly close.
While Terry Sanford had a couple of positive runs throughout both, the defense and strength of the Chargers was just too much to handle.
Northwood took the second set, 25-13, to claim a two-set advantage over the Bulldogs.
In the third and final set, it was a foregone conclusion that the Chargers would be advancing. It was only a matter of time.
But deep into the set, with the score 11-9 in favor of the Chargers, Hodges took to the service line and fired off four straight aces that fired up both her teammates and the green-and-gold-themed crowd.
By the time her fifth serve connected with the middle of the net, Northwood had a 15-9 lead and was well on its way to a sweep.
“I would definitely give (the game ball) to Laikyn because she went to the service line and she totally went after it and got like five aces in a row,” Thigpen said. “It was neck-and-neck and then she had that run and it was just a completely different energy afterward.”
The Chargers went on to win the third set by the same score they’d won the second, 25-13, to move on to the second round of the NCHSAA 3A playoffs.
When Hollis arrived at Northwood as a freshman in 2012, the Chargers were coming off of an 0-15 year and went on to have their second-straight winless season with an 0-13 campaign that year.
While she only made the playoffs once during her four-year career, Hollis’ time as a player in Pittsboro was full of improvements and baby steps, winning zero games her freshman year, four games her sophomore year, seven games her junior year and 10 games her senior year.
From there, Northwood’s program just kept improving.
“While I was here, I was helping my teammates learn how to play, literally learn how to play,” Hollis said. “People had never touched the ball on a varsity level. Me, as a freshman coming in to play varsity, I was like, ‘OK, I’m here to be a team player and that’s what I’m going to do, I’m going to help my team and we’re going to grow.’ And that’s what we did. And each year, we always got better.”
Now, in her first head-coaching gig at just 23 years old, Hollis’ Chargers have a chance to go to the Sweet 16 for the second time in the last four seasons, a far cry from where the program was a decade ago.
“The program has completely changed,” Hollis said. “And I’m beyond proud.”
On Tuesday night, Northwood travels to Fayetteville to take on No. 5 Cape Fear (20-4, 11-3 in the United Eight 3A/4A) at 7 p.m. for a shot at the Sweet 16.
It’s Hollis’ mom, Shellarnetta’s, alma mater. But she’ll be cheering for her daughter to earn her second-career playoff win.
“(I’m) very proud of her,” Shellarnetta Hollis said when asked about her daughter’s success. “I know she can be a great coach, it’s something she’s wanted to do. … I knew she could (win that playoff game).”
Reporter Victor Hensley can be reached at vhensley@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @Frezeal33.