By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
With t heir winning streak in Southern Hills Athletic Conference matches standing at 46, the North Adams Lady Devils faced their toughest conference tests of the 2026 season last week, both on their home court. On September 21, the Lady Devils hosted the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs, who came in with a 9-1 overall record and no conference losses. The following night, the Lady Devils hosted the Fayetteville Lady Rockets, who came in as the first place team in the SHAC small school division with just one conference loss, that coming to Lynchburg.
With that gauntlet in front of them, the Lady Devils proved up to the task. First, they disposed of Lynchburg in closely fought straight sets, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23. Coach Katie Ragan’s squad attacked the net as usual, accumulating 42 kills in the match, three girls hitting double figures- Sophia Barlow and Ava Pistole with 13 each and Emma Pistole with 10. The two-headed setter position combined for 34 assists, Elizabeth Raines with 18 and Barlow with 16. Morgan Wheeler added the floor burns and 17 digs as the SHAC streak extended to 47.
If you were in attendance or watching on GoodGuysRadioTV when Fayetteville made the trip to Seaman, you saw one of the most athletic and spirited matches of the season. The Lady Devils went up two sets to none (25-16, 25-1) only to see Fayetteville rebound and capture the third set, 27-25. The fourth set was a battle all the way and ended on back to back kills by Ava Pistole for a 25-21 North Adams win in the set and the match.
The Lady Devils’ stat sheet was again stacked with kills, this time 47 in all, led by 15 from Emma Pistole. Sister Ava added 14 with Barlow adding 8 and Tailor Lloyd using her soft attack skills for 7 kills. Barlow dished out 23 assists with Wheeler adding 20 digs. That win extended the Lady Devils’ SHAC winning streak to 48 matches.
Nothing like three matches in three nights as the Lady Devils went on the road for a non-conference battle with the Northwest Lady Mohawks. Again, the North Adams squad took four sets but were ultimately victorious, 25- 10, 27-29, 25-14, 25-20.
The win at Northwest improved the Lady Devils to 11-3 as they head into this week’s action, with three matches on the slate- September 28 at home with Portsmouth West, October 1 at home with Batavia, and October 2 at home with another tough SHAC opponent, the Fairfield Lady Lions.
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