Another gold shipment is on the way

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

The gold shipment that made its way through Mayberry was supposed to be a secret, but the gold shipment that is soon to arrive in the trophy case at North Adams High School certainly will be no surprise. What is no secret is the domination of Southern Hills Athletic Conference volleyball play by Coach Katie Ragan’s North Adams Lady Devils.

That dominance continued on Thursday, Oct. 14 as the Lady Devils extended their SHAC winning streak to 42 matches and wrapped up their third consecutive unbeaten conference season, ensuring that a third consecutive gold ball trophy will find its way into the school’s trophy case. The winning streak stayed intact and the gold ball was earned, but not easily, as the Lady Devils finished their 2021 regular season and conference schedule with a trip to Fairfield where both teams had a lot on the line. North Adams was obviously looking for another season of SHAC perfection, but the host Lady Lions had only lost one conference match, that to North Adams earlier in the fall, and a win by the home team could have earned them a share of the big school title in the conference.

It turned out, however, to be another night of coronation for the visiting Lady Devils, as they faced a hard-fought battle from the Lady Lions, but it was North Adams prevailing in straight sets, 25-20, 25-19, 27-25.

“Several people, and some of them even had the guts to say it to my face, told me that we didn’t have a chance this year,” Ragan said in her postgame radio interview. “We lost a lot from last year’s team, almost all of our hitting. I think the girls we had coming back this year kind of took offense to what people were saying so they worked really hard and our hitting has gotten better every week but there are still times we struggle passing. The gold ball never gets old but it’s even sweeter when nobody expects you to get it.”

“Much to their credit, these kids came to the gym all summer long on what they had to do to win this thing. We are well aware of our weaknesses and sometimes we think about it too much, but this was definitely a team win. Fairfield just keeps bringing the ball at you and they are just a scrappy team that gets after it all the time.”

The stat sheet for the North Adams win at Fairfield contained the usual suspects and showed the contributions of everyone in the lineup. The always steady Sierra Kendall led the way with 23 assists, 6 kills, 4 blocks, 4 aces, and 10 digs. Keetyn Hupp had 14 kills, 3 blocks, 2 aces, and 10 digs, with the ever-improving Katelynn Boerger adding 7 kills and 2 blocks. Lizzie Gill contributed 6 kills, most of them in the third and final set, while Jadyn Wright chipped in with 11 digs, Brea Stout 8 digs, and Kiersten Campbell 8 digs.

“Katelynn has been helped tremendously by working against Keetyn in practice,” said Coach Ragan. “Lizzie really came live in that third set and she made some great plays for us, swinging with confidence with the match on the line and that is what you want to see from your seniors.”

With a 19-3 regular season behind them now, the Lady Devils look ahead to the postseason, a place that hasn’t been kind to them over the last few seasons. A #8 seed, they will open on Thursday, Oct. 21 with a Division III sectional championship match on their home court, hosting the #17 seeded Alexander Lady Spartans.

” I think Alexander got a raw deal in the seeding, they are much better that a 17 seed” said Coach Ragan. “They play a tougher schedule than we play and they are a better team than their seed shows. “

If the Lady Devils capture that sectional crown on Thursday night, they will move to the district semi-finals, and a likely match up with the #5 seeded Wheelersburg Lady Pirates, a team that defeated North Adams in straight sets earlier this season. That district semi will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at a site yet to be determined.