Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Jed Blackwell

 

Senior Night festivities almost brought Molly Hill to tears.

To be fair, the Polk County volleyball coach had been fighting her emotions since a group text thread in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which threw life in Western North Carolina, including high school sports, into chaos.

“We missed our original Senior Night when we were out,” Hill said. “Morgan (Yoder) actually texted our group chat, asking what was going to happen, and at that point I had no answers for her. It was kind of heartbreaking not being able to text back and have any kind of plan and tell them not to worry. That was tough.

“So when we did come back, that was a priority of mine. I wanted to make sure we celebrated these girls. They’re really worthy of a celebration. We have relied so heavily on these six girls for the last four years. They deserved to have this special night.”

Chase never had a chance.

Polk County’s seniors – Lexi Belier, Hayden Blackwell, Mia Bradley, Kylie Lewis, Sophia Overholt and Morgan Yoder – along with junior Charley Dusenbury, engineered a 3-0 (25-8, 25-8, 25-7) victory over the Trojans to cap their celebration. Nobody besides those seven played a single point. They were never pushed.

More than half of the match’s 99 points ended in either an ace or a kill for Polk County (14-3). Bradley and Overholt each had five aces, with Bradley adding ten kills. Overholt, meanwhile, notched 15 digs in her new (and likely temporary) spot at libero as she returned to the lineup from a knee injury suffered in early September.

“We’re so excited that she’s able to be back on the court with us,” Hill said. “We wanted to just kind of start slow with her. She’s got her brace, she’s had a couple of practices in it, but we knew tonight would be a good night to just kind of see how she feels.

“I thought she did really great. She’s an amazing passer anyway, and I knew she’d be confident and comfortable in that role. It gave Hayden a chance to hit, which was fun. I was proud of Sophia. I thought she made some really athletic movements, which was good to see from her. She’s ready. She came off after the game and said she’s ready to hit.”

The Wolverines had another player step up ready to hit, as Lewis led the team with 11 kills on the night.

“Kylie played great,” Hill said. “I think this was one of her best games. She thrived tonight. I don’t know if it was her family all being here, if she was just excited and ready to have a good night. I don’t know what it was, but she played great. But Kylie’s like that, though. She steps up when we need her. It was fun to watch her tonight.”