The NC volleyball team won their first game of the 2016 postseason Wednesday, October 12, defeating the Milton Eagles in three straight sets to advance to the next round of the playoffs.

The Warriors began the first set with a shaky start, falling behind 2-5 before they climbed back, keeping the game close with the first set tied at ten before NC took off and finished the set with a 25-13 lead. The Eagles head coach received a red card in the set after failing to stay off the court and spent the rest of the match on the bench. The NC defense did a spectacular job of digging great attacks off the ground, with star senior Jenna Woodruff narrowly diving, grabbing two digs on balls that originally appeared kills.

NC started the second set off well, climbing to a 5-0 lead with the help of a couple poor Milton plays, but the Warriors allowed the Eagles to crawl back to a 16-14 deficit. Later in the set, senior setter Sam Aldridge earned her one-thousandth assist of the season as she set up senior Moriah Hopkins with a kill on the twenty fourth point of the set.

The Eagles played a tighter game in the third set, assisted by frequent substitutions off the NC bench as first year coach Stephen Sansing began to rest his starters more and allow their backups to grab some playoff experience. The Warriors and the reserves who had not played earlier hit a few errant serves, but NC seemed to settle after a great solo block by senior Gabby Weaver. The Warriors pulled away at the end of the third set, eventually winning 25-20.

The Warriors host the Lassiter Trojans next week in the second round of the playoffs as NC’s varsity volleyball team continues its search for its second state title in three years.