The Midway volleyball team was in action this past week, competing in a battle of the top four best teams in the Swine Valley 2A/3A Conference Tournament. Getting things started at home on Tuesday, the Lady Raiders hosted Rosewood in the semifinal and earned a quick 3-0 victory to advance to Wednesday’s tournament championship against Wallace-Rose Hill.
Tuesday
The first set saw Midway get off to a great start, opening up a 3-0 lead. Rosewood, though, turned things around and countered with four consecutive scores to go up 4-3. After a couple of scoring changes, the first set was all tied up at 5-5. After that, the Lady Raiders lit up the scoreboard for seven scores in a row, extending their lead to 12-5 to force the Lady Eagles into a timeout. Out of the break, Midway’s run continued and the lead reached 14-5 before Rosewood finally stopped the bleeding. Unfortunately for the visitors, though, they couldn’t stop the bleeding as the Lady Eagles had completely had their wings clipped. The Lady Raiders left the visitors in the dust and ran away with the first set win, 25-10.
The second didn’t start as nearly as successful for Midway after they found themselves playing from behind in the early going. It took a little while, but they finally got going and jumped ahead to lead 11-8 at the halfway point. Once the Lady Raiders gained the lead it was never really challenged again as they went on to win the second set, 25-17.
Much like the two sets before it, the third set continued to be unkind to the Lady Eagles. Rosewood simply proved to be a very little threat for Midway as the Lady Raiders were cruising. As the third set progressed, Midway gradually opened things up and eclipsed a double-digit lead. In dominating fashion, the Lady Raiders wrapped things up with a 25-11 third-set victory to reach Wednesday night’s championship.
Wednesday
Even though the teams split and the tie-breaker scenario technically favored Midway, Wednesday night’s championship game was hosted by Wallace-Rose Hill due to the Lady Bulldogs being higher in RPI (rating percentage index). The Lady Raiders, perhaps, took exception to that fact as they entered the dog pound on a mission. When all was said and done, Midway had dominated for the second night in a row and landed yet another 3-0 victory to clinch the title. Scores in the sets were 25-17, 25-16, and 25-14.
With both wins, the Lady Raiders are now 15-6 overall and 11-1 in conference play. Midway received the No. 3 seed in the NCHSAA 3A State Playoffs and received a first round bye. They are slated to host the second round game against either No. 14 Greene Central or No. 19 South Lenoir.
Game date and time TBD.