North Summit’s volleyball team has faced more bumps in the road than usual, but the Braves head into the postseason peaking at the right time.
The Braves dispatched Rich in four sets at home on Friday for their sixth win in a row and look more like the North Summit teams of previous years after some midseason adjustments heading into the state tournament. The bracket for the Class 2A playoffs was set to be revealed Wednesday morning. The first round will take place on Oct. 22 at home sites before the rest of the tournament moves to the Sevier Valley Center on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29.
“It feels really good,” North Summit coach Samantha Stephens said. “I feel like we are playing really well and starting to click. Our hitting is getting better, and I feel like our defense is good.”
North Summit hosted a Rich team on Friday that finished 18-6 overall and undefeated in region play in Class 1A’s Region 22. After dropping the first set, the Braves found their groove and won the next three in the 20-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-23 victory.
North Summit had three hitters with double-digit kills, and the Braves hit .227 as a team. Junior Presley Peterson had team-highs in kills (14) and hitting percentage (.355). Sophomore Hayzlyn Murdock (13) and senior Avery Judi (12) weren’t far behind.
“We played really good,” Peterson said. “We had some really good passes and had good sets and were able to put the ball away.”
Historically, the Braves have dominated their region and rolled into the state playoffs. However, that hasn’t been the case this year. North Summit finished 5-3 against region opponents and 17-12 overall. But North Summit has righted the ship down the stretch, and a few midseason adjustments are a big reason why.
For instance, Peterson moved from opposite hitter to playing in the middle this year. While it was a big adjustment, it’s all coming together for her and the Braves heading into the postseason. In addition to her strong hitting performance against Rich, she led the Braves with three total blocks.
“It’s a big change for sure, but we’re starting to click now,” Peterson said. “Changing some of our outsides to opposite (hitter) and our middles to outsides, our blocking has changed, and we had to figure that out. But I think now we’re starting to play a little bit more together in our own way.”
Murdock also switched positions from playing in the middle to being an outside hitter. The sophomore leads the team in kills on the season and has the highest hitting percentage out of the team’s regular hitters.
“I think we’re all feeling pretty good,” Murdock said. “We went through a rough spot, but now we’re all clicking and getting really excited because state’s super close. I can just feel it all coming together.”
It was also announced after the match that Stephens had won her 400th match as the coach at North Summit. But Stephens is keeping her attention focused on bringing home the Braves’ sixth state title since 2016.
“It feels like I’ve been coaching forever,” Stephens said. “I think my husband’s more excited than me. I’m just glad that we’re starting to play better on our way to state. That’s what I’m most excited about.”