CHAPEL HILL — The Woods Charter volleyball team had by far its best season in program history last fall, when the Wolves went 18-4 overall, won the Central Tar Heel 1A Conference Tournament and made it to the third round of the state playoffs before falling to Neuse Charter.
But as successful as Woods Charter was in 2021, the Wolves might be even better this season. Entering Tuesday’s match against Triangle Math & Science, head coach Amanda Gough’s team was 4-1 and on a two-match winning streak.
Gough, who is in her first year as the Wolves’ head coach, was hired in July as the replacement for Scott Green, who took the same job at Seaforth. Green coached four seasons at Woods Charter with a career record of 22-48. Before 2021, the Wolves’ best season as a varsity program came in 2017 when they went 7-13 overall.
Last Thursday, Woods Charter dominated River Mill, sweeping the Jaguars, 3-0, in its first game of conference play. Last season, the Wolves finished the league schedule with a 9-1 record, which landed them in a tie with Chatham Central for first place in the conference standings.
One of Woods’ top players in 2021 was sophomore outside hitter Lexi Smollen, who led the team in kills by a wide margin with 474. She also led the team in service aces (69) and was second in both total blocks (15) and digs (193). But Smollen isn’t back with the Wolves in 2022.
Over the offseason, Smollen transferred to Chapel Hill High. Through seven matches this season, the junior has 10 kills in just 10 sets of action. The Tigers hope Smollen will put them over the hump after going 22-5 overall and losing in the second round of the 4A state playoffs.
In Smollen’s absence, Woods Charter has turned over attacking duties to freshman Josephine Valgus, who had 81 kills through her team’s first five matches for an average of 5.8 kills per set.
But the Wolves are not a one-woman band. Captain Maya Sheridan has returned for her sophomore season, and she has picked up right where she left off after breaking out as a freshman in 2021.
Through five matches, Sheridan already had 107 of the team’s 111 assists this season. Though her 7.6 assists per set is slightly down from last season (8.2), it’s entirely possible she eclipses last season’s assist total of 542. Sheridan only played 66 of a possible 76 sets last season. If she played in 76 sets this season and maintained her averages, she would finish the year with 577 assists.
This season, the Wolves will fight for the Central Tar Heel 1A Conference title with Chatham Charter, who entered Tuesday’s match at Southern Wake Academy with an overall record of 3-3.
In 2021, the Knights and Wolves shared the top spot in the league standings during the regular season with a conference record of 9-1. The two teams split their two regular season meetings, but Woods Charter won the season series with a sweep of Chatham Charter in the finals of the conference tournament.
This year’s Chatham Charter team is currently only operating with six players on its roster. The Knights’ top player this season has been senior Emerson Clark, who led the team with 69 kills, 18 service aces and 158 digs entering Tuesday’s match.
Sports Editor Jeremy Vernon can be reached at jeremy@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @jbo_vernon.