RALEIGH — Cardinal Gibbons, High School OT’s No.1 volleyball team in North Carolina, handed Seaforth its first 3-0 loss of the season on Oct. 9, but the set scores tell a different story on how close the game really was.
Behind a stellar all-around performance from junior Keira Rosenmarkle, Seaforth, a 2A team, gave the 4A Crusaders their closest two opening sets since they beat Green Level 3-1 on Aug. 26. The Hawks’ demise didn’t fully settle in until the end of the second set at which they couldn’t overcome Cardinal Gibbons’ dominant front line, which recorded a season-high 17 blocks.
“They didn’t back down,” Seaforth co-head coach Scott Green said. “They weren’t afraid to take it to the other team. You hear how good they are, but they weren’t afraid to go in full attack mode.”
The Hawks’ sideline and crowd brought the noise after two kills by sophomore Ally Forbes and two service aces from senior Maris Huneycutt gave Seaforth a 4-0 lead to open the first set.
Cardinal Gibbons then went on its own 4-0 run to tie the set, and both teams went back and forth until the Crusaders pulled away toward the end for a 25-17 victory.
Multiple blocks toward the end of the first set from Cardinal Gibbons’ front line, including senior Charlotte Bell and junior Mary Grace Gonyeau, foreshadowed what was to come for the Hawks, though.
To start the second set, Cardinal Gibbons returned the favor by jumping out to a 4-0 lead. The third point, a block assist from Bell and junior Katherine Barbour, was just one of the nine times the front line got their hands up and stifled the Hawks’ attacks in the set.
“We’re talking about trying to tool the block,” Seaforth co-head coach Helen May said. “Really work their block, use their outside hands, trying to tool and just swing around them.”
Despite the challenge of getting the ball over Cardinal Gibbons’ towering front line, Seaforth rallied back to take a 13-11 lead following three straight service aces from Rosenmarkle.
“Her serve has really improved,” Green said.
Said May, “She’s been working on it every day in practice. She’s getting into her own routine and finding her flow, and it’s working.”
Seaforth and Cardinal Gibbons went on another back and forth sequence until the Hawks held a 22-20 lead. Another block assist from Bell and junior Genevieve Harris sparked a five-point run from the Crusaders, who narrowly escaped the second set with a 25-22 victory and snatched the momentum before the final period.
Prior to the deciding set, Green and May told the Hawks to focus on making good swings and covering their hitters, but once again, the Crusaders’ front wall proved to be too rigid. Cardinal Gibbons’ front line got its hands on 11 balls in the third set which played a huge part in Seaforth scoring just 11 points, the least it has scored in a set all season.
“They were fighting every second of the way, and I think they just had to put their foot on the gas the entire game,” May said. “They wanted it, and they were there. Sometimes, it just doesn’t go our way, but they played awesome, and they played to a very, very high potential.”
With the loss, the Hawks finished the season 3-4 against non-conference opponents.
All of Seaforth’s losses this year have come at the hands of 4A teams, which have a combined regular season records of 66-12. The coaching staff believes those though games have helped the team improve before the tougher competition in the upcoming playoffs.
“It’s building confidence because they know that we can play,” May said. “It’s good for us to play higher ranked teams and like 4A and all of that just to help us get better. I think that the girls are really using that, and they’re like hey, we go out there and we give it all that we got, and we got this.”
As of Sunday, Seaforth sits at fifth in the 2A East RPI standings. Following a 3-0 win over Bartlett Yancey on Oct. 10, the Hawks finished the regular season with a 17-4 overall record and a 14-0 conference record, going undefeated in conference play for the second year in a row.
On track to make its third straight playoff appearance, the Hawks are looking to build on last year’s run to the fourth round and push closer to a state title.
