After their win at Eastern Brown last week, the North Adams Lady Devils celebrate their third consecutive gold ball trophy, again going 13-0 in conference play. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
North Adams volleyball wins third consecutive SHAC Gold Ball
North Adams freshman Sophia Barlow goes up at the net for one of her eight kills in the Lady Devils’ win at Eastern Brown. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
The North Adams fan section celebrated their team’s gold ball victory at Eastern Brown on October 8, the third consecutive for the school’s trophy case. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
North Adams junior Elizabeth Raines goes full extension at the net for the kill attempt as the Lady Devils topped Eastern Brown in three sets to close out a 16-6 regular season. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
If you are a fan of the James Bond movies from the 1960’s, you may recall a certain arch-villain named Goldfinger, who was described in the title song as “the man with the Midas touch”. In other words, everything he touched turned to gold. Well, right here in Adams County there is a high school volleyball team who has made a habit in recent seasons of putting their own golden touch on their seasons.
With a three-set win on October 8 over the Eastern Brown Lady Warriors, Coach Katie Ragan and her North Adams Lady Devils sewed up their third consecutive Southern Hills Athletic Conference gold ball trophy, the coveted award given to teams that go undefeated in conference play. The Lady Devils extended their conference winning streak to 39 matches and won the 18th SHAC championship in Ragan’s coaching tenure, 12 of those being of the gold ball variety. For the 2025 season, the Lady Devils lost their first conference set to West Union and then won 39 in a row.
“Winning the gold ball is always one of our season goals,” said Coach Ragan in her postgame radio interview. “I’m glad our girls got to celebrate something they really wanted to achieve. I have to give credit to my team because they work hard but more importantly, they all get along. They are always doing things together that don’t really have anything to do in volleyball.”
The outcome of the match with Eastern Brown was never really in doubt as the visiting Lady Devils dominated from start to finish, though in the opening set, the Lady Warriors had an early 6-5 advantage after a string of serves from junior Bree Jimison. That lead evaporated quickly when North Adams’ Natalie Ragan stepped back to serve and reeled off four straight with two aces to put her team on top 11-6. After Eastern grabbed the next two points, the match became a showcase for North Adams junior Emma Pistole, who started with a kill then served six consecutive points to put the visitors in front 18-8.
A service error gave the side out to the home team but they couldn’t keep it and Lady Devils’ senior Paige Evans served four points to make it 23-9 and the final two North Adams points of the first set came on kills from freshman Sophia Barlow, the Lady Devils winning 25-12.
The second set was all North Adams and all Emma Pistole, who rattled off 15 service points in succession, aided by kills from Evans and Elizabeth Raines, to give her team a commanding 21-2 lead. A service ace from Evans and a kill from Ava Pistole wrapped up the second set for the Lady Devils, 25-5.
The third set was much of the same as North Adams raced out to a 12-2 lead, getting service aces from Morgan Wheeler and Addison Shupert. The Lady Warriors tried to keep things close but had no answer for the Lady Devils’ power at the serve and at the net. A pair of aces from Raines and kills from both of the Pistoles led their side to an 18-7 advantage. Shupert blasted off another pair of service aces with Emma Pistole adding two kills and the Lady Devils wrapped up the match and the gold ball with a 25-11 victory in the final set and a sweep of the match.
On the stat sheet, a balanced North Adams offense chalked up 33 kills, led by 9 from Emma Pistole, with the freshman Barlow adding 8 and Ragan adding 6. From her setter position, Ragan dished out 22 assists while Raines led the team with 9 digs.
This was the final regular season game for a trio of North Adams seniors- Natalie Ragan, Paige Evans and Addison Shupert.
“We do lose three great seniors but we have some talented players returning and we’ll try to mix in some new kids,” said Coach Ragan.
Recent regular seasons have been no obstacle for the Lady Devils, who finished 2025 at 16-6, but district tournament play has been a different story. The Lady Devils are the #8 seed in a totally stacked Division V District bracket and will open at home on Wednesday, October 15, hosting #17 seed Eastern Meigs in a 7 p.m. start. A win there propels North Adams into the district semifinals at Waverly High School, where they would likely face #5 seed Zane Trace, a team the Lady Devils lost to back in early September. That semifinal game will be played on October 21.
“Volleyball is a lot about momentum and if you get some of that momentum on your side, anything can happen,” added Coach Ragan. “We have to go in each night and do our best and try to make some positive plays.”
