A raucous crowd flooded Clinton High School on Tuesday night when the Lady Horses and the Lady Raiders of county-rival Midway High met up in the second round of the NCHSAA 2A Volleyball playoffs. For the hometown Dark Horses, it was an enjoyable night as their team took an impressive 3-0 win over the Lady Raiders and surged into the third round.

The opening set was a close battle early with the teams exchanging scores. Point by point, one team answered the other’s score all the way through a 10-9 game. Then, however, a pair of double-hit penalties and two big kills from Clinton surged the Lady Dark Horses ahead at 14-9 to prompt a Midway timeout. That was followed by a 7-3 surge by Clinton that was aided by error after error by the Lady Raiders. With the lead now 21-12, another Midway timeout wasn’t enough to stop the Lady Horses from claiming the first set victory, 24-16.

The second set was more of the same as Clinton continued to pour it on. With an 11-6 lead in the second set, Midway again signaled for timeout as the Lady Raiders were desperately seeking to answer the level of play that was on full display from the Lady Horses. Out of the timeout, Midway had answered the call and trimmed the margin down to three and seemingly down to two, but the line judge ruled a ball that looked to be on the line and in the area of play out and the point, instead, was awarded to Clinton. That turned the tide as the Lady Horses reeled off multiple consecutive points and stretched the lead back to 17-11 and forced another Midway timeout. The Lady Raiders again answered the call out of the timeout as they got back to within 21-19, which forced the Lady Horses into their first timeout situation. It worked like a charm as Clinton answered with 4-unanswered points to take the second-set win, 25-19, to go ahead two sets to none.

The roles, momentarily, were reversed in the third set as it was Midway that pushed the Lady Horses into a timeout early in the third set when they took a 9-4 lead. That lead swelled, nearly doubling, as the Lady Raiders stormed out to a 17-8 lead. With that, Clinton exhausted its second timeout of the set. It paid off, though, as everything came crashing down for Midway. Very quickly, the Lady Horses answered with a 7-1 run to get back to 18-15, forcing a Lady Raiders timeout. Moments later, Midway was clinging to a 19-18 lead that yielded their final timeout of the game. With no stoppages left, it was a race to 25. The Lady Dark Horses won that race, securing a 25-23 set three victory to sweep Midway three sets to none.

With the loss, Midway is eliminated and their 2019 volleyball campaign has ended. The finish the season at 18-8 overall. Four seniors, Caitlyn Holland, Jordan Wallum, Makayla Chavis, and Natalie McPhail, have all concluded their volleyball careers for Midway High School.

For the Lady Horses, they improve to 25-1 overall and will play in today’s NCHSAA 2A Volleyball third round game, hosting Currituck County. The Lady Knights are the No. 5 seed in the tournament and are 23-8 overall.

Clinton’s Grayson Thornton sets the ball for a teammate.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_CHS-8.jpegClinton’s Grayson Thornton sets the ball for a teammate.

Clinton’s Taylor Spell serves up the ball for the Lady Raiders
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_CHS-12.jpegClinton’s Taylor Spell serves up the ball for the Lady Raiders

Midway’s Caitlyn Holland sends the ball back over the net.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_MHS-Caitlyn-1.jpegMidway’s Caitlyn Holland sends the ball back over the net.

Midway’s Sydney Williams plays the ball, looking to set up a teammate.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_MHS-Syndey.jpegMidway’s Sydney Williams plays the ball, looking to set up a teammate.
Lady Horses oust Raiders from playoffs

By Daron Barefoot

Sports Editor

Reach Sports Editor Daron Barefoot at [email protected].