North Adams volleyball seniors Addison Shupert, Paige Evans and Natalie Ragan pose with the team’s third consecutive Southern Hills Athletic Conference gold ball trophy for again going 13-0 in conference matches. (Photo provided)
North Adams junior libero Morgan Wheeler makes a return in action from the Lady Devils’ loss to Zane Trace in the Division V district semifinals.(Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
After yet another super successful regular season and a win in their opening district tournament match, the 2025 season came to an abrupt end for the North Adams Lady Devils in the Division V district semifinals. Matched up with a talented Zane Trace Lady Pioneers squad on October 21 at Waverly High School, a site that has not been kind to North Adams in recent years.
Looking for their first trip to the district championship in three seasons, the Lady Devils put up a battle but fell to the Lady Pioneers in straight sets to finish their season with an overall record of 17-7. In the district semifinal match, the Lady Devils dug holes on the scoreboard that they just could not fig their way out of, falling 25-17, 25-20, 25-13. In the loss, the Lady Devils got solid front row attack play, getting 9 kills from Emma Pistole, 8 from Ava Pistole, 6 from Sophia Barlow and 5 from Paige Evans. Senior Natalie Ragan ended her record-setting career at North Adams with a 22-assist outing, adding to her school record. Evans, who recorded her 1,000th dig of her career earlier in the season, led the team in the district semis with 12 digs.
In their 2025 campaign, Coach Katie Ragan and her squad collected their third consecutive Southern Hills Athletic Conference gold ball trophy, going 13-0 in conference play and in the process, placed a quartet of players on the All-Conference Team- seniors Natalie Ragan and Paige Evans and juniors Ava and Emma Pistol, with Ragan being named the SHAC Player of the Year and Coach Ragan chosen as the SHAC Coach of the Year.
Ragan was also named Second Team All-District and will participate in the District All-Star Game in Waverly on November 10. Evans was also named Honorable Mention All-District.
Looking to the future, Coach Ragan says, “Our juniors- Ava Pistole, Emma Pistole, Morgan Wheeler and Eilzabeth Raines- will all be four-year varsity players next season. They will be going for their fourth consecutive gold ball.”
“We are graduating three seniors who will be missed and difficult to replace in Natalie (Ragan), Paige (Evans) and Addison (Shupert). More importantly, they are great kids and it was my pleasure to coach them. coaching my daughter for four years has been one of the best experiences of my life. I have enjoyed every minute of seeing her on the volleyball court.”
