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Lady Pirates fall in state playoffs
Northeastern wins 5-set thriller
Tideland News Report
The dream season came to a close for the Swansboro High School volleyball team in the third round of the state playoffs.
But it was very close to continuing.
The Lady Pirates fell to host Northeastern 12-25, 25-20, 28-26, 25-27 and 15-12 in Thursday’s marathon battle.
Swansboro, the East Central Conference co-champions, wrap up the season with an 18-5 record. Northeastern, champions of the Northeastern Coastal Conference, improves to 20-3.
“This is what playoffs are suppose to be like,” said Swansboro head coach Kim Miller-Morton. “It was a great match, both teams had opportunities in each of the sets to win.
“It basically came down to which team made the fewest mistakes and continued to be aggressive,” she added. “Both teams played their hearts out and it was a shame that anyone had to lose.
“We definitely left it all on the court, I was very proud of how we played. At the end of the match, both teams congratulated each other on a great performance. They showed their respect for each other and that is something that you don’t see very often in high school athletics.”
The coach added that though the Pirates enjoyed a stellar season, they’re going to miss their seven seniors.
“It’s been a great year and we are going to miss our seven seniors, Ke-Londa Thomas, Kelly Sparr, Joy Oswalt, Natalie Oshita, Mariah Jacobs, Maribeth Adams, and Gwen Squires. We have a lot of work to do to prepare for next season. I know that the underclassmen are ready to meet that challenge.”
Joy Oswalt sparked the Swansboro offense with 15 kills, four blocks and three aces. Natalie Oshita smashed nine kills and Mariah Jacobs hit seven.
Setter Maribeth Adams served up 35 assists and Ke-Londa Thomas had 20 digs.
The Lady Pirates made the most of their long road trip to Wilson Beddingfield for their second round match on Oct. 27.
The Swansboro girls won the five-set marathon match 26-24, 25-23, 22-25, 19-25 and 15-11.
“We didn’t play to our potential the entire night, but we showed a lot of determination by coming back in the first two sets and gutting it out in the fifth,” explained the coach. “At this point in the season, a win is a win no matter what it looked like and it allows us to continue.
Oswalt led the Pirate attack with 23 kills, eight digs and eight blocks. Askew had 10 kills and seven digs, Thomas 16 digs and Adams recorded 35 assists.
“In the first set it seemed like we were constantly playing catch up,” said Miller-Morton. “We were down 20-22 when I called my last time out, and we were able to pull it off 26-24.
“In the second set we raced out to an 8-3 lead only to have them tie it up at 11. They went up 22-19 when I called my last time out. Once again, we were able to pull it off 25-22. In the third set, we led pretty much the entire time. We were up 19-13 when they called their final timeout.
“We went down 19-20 when I called my last time out. And we lost the set 22-25. The fourth set, we never led and seemed to have trouble making good decisions on what to do with the ball. Their middle hitters also caught fire and put the ball away or shot it to our right back corners.
“The fifth set was a see-saw battle for the first couple of points. We finally started playing together and communicating. We played with a sense of urgency and won 15-11.”
The dream season came to a close for the Swansboro High School volleyball team in the third round of the state playoffs.
But it was very close to continuing.
The Lady Pirates fell to host Northeastern 12-25, 25-20, 28-26, 25-27 and 15-12 in Thursday’s marathon battle.
Swansboro, the East Central Conference co-champions, wrap up the season with an 18-5 record. Northeastern, champions of the Northeastern Coastal Conference, improves to 20-3.
“This is what playoffs are suppose to be like,” said Swansboro head coach Kim Miller-Morton. “It was a great match, both teams had opportunities in each of the sets to win.
“It basically came down to which team made the fewest mistakes and continued to be aggressive,” she added. “Both teams played their hearts out and it was a shame that anyone had to lose.
“We definitely left it all on the court, I was very proud of how we played. At the end of the match, both teams congratulated each other on a great performance. They showed their respect for each other and that is something that you don’t see very often in high school athletics.”
The coach added that though the Pirates enjoyed a stellar season, they’re going to miss their seven seniors.
“It’s been a great year and we are going to miss our seven seniors, Ke-Londa Thomas, Kelly Sparr, Joy Oswalt, Natalie Oshita, Mariah Jacobs, Maribeth Adams, and Gwen Squires. We have a lot of work to do to prepare for next season. I know that the underclassmen are ready to meet that challenge.”
Joy Oswalt sparked the Swansboro offense with 15 kills, four blocks and three aces. Natalie Oshita smashed nine kills and Mariah Jacobs hit seven.
Setter Maribeth Adams served up 35 assists and Ke-Londa Thomas had 20 digs.
The Lady Pirates made the most of their long road trip to Wilson Beddingfield for their second round match on Oct. 27.
The Swansboro girls won the five-set marathon match 26-24, 25-23, 22-25, 19-25 and 15-11.
“We didn’t play to our potential the entire night, but we showed a lot of determination by coming back in the first two sets and gutting it out in the fifth,” explained the coach. “At this point in the season, a win is a win no matter what it looked like and it allows us to continue.
Oswalt led the Pirate attack with 23 kills, eight digs and eight blocks. Askew had 10 kills and seven digs, Thomas 16 digs and Adams recorded 35 assists.
“In the first set it seemed like we were constantly playing catch up,” said Miller-Morton. “We were down 20-22 when I called my last time out, and we were able to pull it off 26-24.
“In the second set we raced out to an 8-3 lead only to have them tie it up at 11. They went up 22-19 when I called my last time out. Once again, we were able to pull it off 25-22. In the third set, we led pretty much the entire time. We were up 19-13 when they called their final timeout.
“We went down 19-20 when I called my last time out. And we lost the set 22-25. The fourth set, we never led and seemed to have trouble making good decisions on what to do with the ball. Their middle hitters also caught fire and put the ball away or shot it to our right back corners.
“The fifth set was a see-saw battle for the first couple of points. We finally started playing together and communicating. We played with a sense of urgency and won 15-11.”
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