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In 2023, the Fighting Phoenix of McMichael High School in Mayodan visited North Stanly in the third round of the NCHSAA playoffs, and ended the Comets season with a 3-0 sweep (25-14, 25-21, 25-18).
This year, the two again faced off in Mayodan, this time in the Western Regional 2A finals. However, the final result was similar, as North Stanly fell 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 16-25, 25-23).
Showing some early jitters, the Comets fell behind 3-0 in the first set before battling back to a 12-12 tie. North Stanly would tie the game twice more (at 13-13 and 16-16) but was never able to take a lead, with McMichael pulling away late and scoring the game-ending point as North Stanly’s service return went into the net.
Set two started favorably for North, with the Comets jumping to a 3-1 advantage before McMichael battled back to take a lead they would never relinquish at 5-4. North Stanly was able to tie the match at 15-all before the Phoenix scored 10 of the final 13 points to open a two sets to none lead.
North Stanly dominated the third set, jumping to a 9-4 lead and forcing McMichael to burn a timeout in an unsuccessful effort to kill the Comet momentum. Behind aggressive attacks by Emmy Talbert, Shalyn Bell and Stella Marks, the visitors led by as many as 11 points on the way to a 25-16 win.
The fourth set again saw North Stanly start strong, only to have McMichael battle back to tie the game at 4-all, 5-all and 7-all before pulling into a 10-7 lead. At that point, Comets coach Daniel Galloway called timeout, temporarily stalling the Phoenix attack and allowing North to climb within a point at 11-10 before surrendering three straight points to give McMichael its biggest lead of the set at 14-10.
Bell once again took charge, delivering on a number of kills and blocks and enabling North Stanly to open an 18-16 lead before McMichael tied the match at 18 with consecutive points on the next two rallies. North would hold its final lead of the set at 19-18, after which McMichael scored five straight points.
A long serve and a net violation by McMichael provided renewed momentum for North Stanly, and after McMichael scored the 24th point, Talbert recorded another kill to bring the match to 24-22.
McMichael then misfired on a service return to bring the Comets to within one point, after which a hard spike by the Comets landed just wide of the sideline, ending the match and sending McMichael to Reynolds Coliseum at N.C. State University on Saturday.
The Phoenix (29-2) will take on Seaforth High School of Pittsboro, which recorded a 3-1 win over Manteo High in the Eastern NC Regionals.
With the loss, North Stanly concludes its most successful volleyball season ever. The Comets finished with a 25-7 record, with three of the seven losses coming to 3A and 4A schools, while posting a perfect 10-0 record in Yadkin Valley Conference play.
Four seniors will graduate from the 2024 team: Shalyn Bell, Allie Morgan, Kylie Speight and Olivia McDonald.

Toby Thorpe is a freelance writer for The Stanly News & Press.