Kernersville – For the first time in 51 days, the Lady Bulldogs met their match on the volleyball court.
As the No. 6 seed in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A playoffs, Murphy traveled to No. 3 seed Bishop McGuinness on Thursday and fell in straight sets 13-25, 23-25, 14-25. The Lady Bulldogs finished the year 23-4 overall and had won 17 straight games entering the third round.
“It’s kind of like beating a dead horse talking about the fairness between a public school and private school,” Murphy head coach Jordan Lovingood said. “But if the state says it’s fair, we just show up and play. Last night, Bishop just hit the ball really well, and that was something we had a hard time defending.”
Besides Murphy having to overcome the challenge of traveling 262 miles, the Bishop McGuinness (23-5 overall) offense kept the Lady Bulldogs on their toes. The Lady Villains could hit from all three spots up front: outside hitter (left of the setter), middle hitter and opposite hitter (right of the setter). Usually in 1A, teams just set to the outside and middle hitter.
Murphy had challenges in serve-receive too, starting in the first set. An 8-0 Bishop McGuinness run included four aces from libero Emma Briody and gave them an 11-3 lead. The Lady Villains were never threatened after that in the set, as the Lady Bulldogs didn’t score more than two consecutive points.
“We had a couple miscommunication errors that led to a couple errors that we usually don’t have,” Lovingood said of the first set. “So that set us back from the beginning, and it was a hard hole to dig out of.”
Bishop McGuinness jumped out to a 16-7 lead in the second set, but Murphy settled in and tried to claw back. A Maddie Parker ace cut the Lady Villains’ lead to 24-23, but Bishop McGuinness setter Jenna Hauk tipped the ball over the net, and it bounced to the ground to close out the set.
The third set was never close, as the Lady Villains jumped out to a 12-2 lead and cruised.
Despite the disappointing end, the Lady Bulldogs still had another strong year in 2022. After starting 1-2 in Big Smoky Mountain Conference play, they battled back to win a share of the regular-season conference title with Robbinsville, then came back to beat the Lady Knights in the conference tournament final despite dropping the first two sets.
Murphy also did not lose at home again for the third straight season, and has now won 37 straight home matches.
The Lady Bulldogs will lose five seniors, including All-Conference outside hitter Liv Payne, starting outside hitter Riley Dockery and Parker. They’ll be tough to replace, but Murphy still returns four starters, who will be hungry to stay at the top of the conference.
“We’ll really miss our seniors,” Lovingood said.
“They just played such a huge part in our program. But we really have so many young kids coming back, and they’re just kids that have played a huge part in the success of our team. They just have to realize they’re the top dogs now and take matters into their own hands.”