Polk County’s volleyball squad rallied from a 2-1 deficit to force a deciding fifth game, but Newton-Conover held on, barely, to win that final game and the 2A volleyball second-round playoff match between the two schools Tuesday night in Newton.
Newton-Conover took a dramatic 14-25, 25-19, 25-14, 22-25, 17-15 win to improve its record to 19-3 and advance to Thursday’s third round, where the Red Devils will face Draughn.
“I thought that are players did an excellent job on the road,” said Polk County head coach Kelly Risley. “We came out on fire and truly dominated the first set. I feel as if we may have let their crowd take us out of the second and third sets.
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“What a great team effort to battle back from a 2-1 deficit. Our leaders proved to be the driving force in that effort. Kara Overholt and Sarah Phipps provided not only solid leadership, but incredible match play. I feel as if hard work on defense, solid serve receive passing and great setting decisions really all contributed to the charge.”
The Wolverines, who saw their season end at 15-9 with the loss, led much of the final set before Newton-Conover was able to rally late.
“I know the turning point of the fifth set was allowing Newton to tie us,” Risley said. “We had been able to maintain a lead for the entire fifth set until 13-all. I feel as if we just got too careful, afraid to make a mistake.
“All of our players were outstanding both on the court and on the bench. We fought hard and never gave up, a testament to this team and this community.”
For Polk, Overholt led the effort with 44 assists, six kills and nine digs. Phipps added 26 kills and sophomore Lily Owens had 20 digs.
