Murphy – After clinching a share of its fifth straight Big Smoky Mountain Conference Championship against Robbinsville on Oct. 7, the Lady Bulldogs took sole possession of the top spot last week.
They finished the job with straight set wins against Swain County (25-20, 25-10, 25-6) and Andrews (25-17, 25-21, 25-14). Heading into the postseason, Murphy is 18-1 overall and a perfect 10-0 in the conference, dropping just two sets against conference foes.
“Starting the year we kind of set two goals we knew that (were) definitely achievable,” Murphy head coach Jordan Lovingood said. “The first one was county champs. That’s always a good testament to your volleyball program and the next one was conference champs. I couldn’t be more proud of the girls.”
After taking care of business in Bryson City, the Lady Bulldogs welcomed the Lady Wildcats for Senior Night. That put both teams in different places heading into the match. Murphy was dealing with the emotions of its final home regular season contest. Andrews entered knowing it was the underdog and had nothing to lose.
“Tonight I told them, girls there is no pressure,” Lady Wildcats Shanna Mustin said. “This is our last game of the regular season, so go out and have no regrets, and I really feel like though it was 3-0 in favor of them, that’s probably the best game they played this season.”
After getting swept by Robbinsville (25-9, 25-11, 26-24) but fighting in the third and final set, Andrews carried that level of play into Murphy’s gym. The Lady Wildcats (5-9, 2-8) looked intimidated in the two team’s first matchup on Sept. 14, but not this time.
Their defense was much better, and they were able to make a few solid plays against a strong hitting team. With the Lady Bulldogs not playing as well as they could, Andrews made them work in the first two sets.
“That’s one thing I love about this group,” Mustin said. “They are small, but they don’t play small. They’ll never give up.”
Both teams played in this week’s conference tournament at Robbinsville, though have opposite N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A West playoff prospects.
As the Big Smoky Mountain Conference regular-season champion, Murphy will be pooled with the other conference champions, or the highest-placing team inside the top three of a split conference.
That will put the Lady Bulldogs in the top 10 seeds and guarantee at least one home game. The Lady Bulldogs entered this week as the projected No. 1 overall seed, meaning they would have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Lady Wildcats are on the other side of the coin, fighting to be one of the wild-card teams and get a bid into the 32-team 1A West bracket. They entered this week as the last team out of the bracket.
“I would like to think that our team has not peaked yet,” Lovingood said. “As a coach, all you want is for your team to peak when it matters at the end of the year. We’re nearing that, and now it’s just go time.“