Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Carter Duggins spikes the ball against Andrews’ Rylie McDonald in the first set in the Class 1-A West state playoffs in Asheboro on October 23, 2021. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
ASHEBORO — Coming off of a conference tournament championship, Uwharrie Charter Academy volleyball coach Lee Kennell hoped his team would maintain its momentum in the the first round of the Class 1-A state playoffs.
The Eagles did just that with a three-set victory against Andrews on Saturday, winning 25-8, 25-9, 25-14.
The third-seed Eagles were tied at 12-12 in the third set before turning up the tempo to clinch the outcome.
Kennell said he was worried early that some post-season jitters were affecting his team. “I figured there would be a little bit of nerves early,” he said. “We had a lot of momentum coming from the conference tournament, beating three really good teams.”
In the third set, Andrews called a timeout trailing 16-12. Kennell said he rallied his team and told them to focus on their serving. “We made some uncharacteristic mistakes,” he said. “I thought we did really good serving.”
The Eagles will play host to Cornerstone Charter on Tuesday in the second round. No. 14 seed Cornerstone Charter defeated No. 19 seed Cherokee in four sets in the first round.
