UCA rolls past Randleman into volleyball state final

UCA students rush the court to celebrate with the team after the Eagles defeated Randleman in Tuesday night’s Class 4A East Region final. (PJ Ward-Brown / Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO — Uwharrie Charter Academy’s volleyball team is heading to the Class 4A state championship match after rolling through the East Region.

The latest conquest came by defeating visiting Randleman 25-19, 25-15, 25-15 in Tuesday night’s regional final in front of a capacity crowd.

UCA (28-3), champion of the Four Rivers Conference, will meet West Region champion Lake Norman Charter (29-3) for the state title at 5 p.m. Friday at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem.

“We’re really capable of beating anybody if we jump on them early,” UCA junior Caroline Way said.

Fourth-seeded Randleman (23-5), champion of the Piedmont Athletic Conference, bowed out after facing an in-county team for the second match in a row.

“It says a lot about volleyball in Randolph County,” UCA coach Lee Kennell said.

Second-seeded UCA, which will be in the state final for the first time, has won 72 consecutive sets.

“It’s special,” Kennell said. “We haven’t talked about it. We haven’t thought about it. Every bit of it is what we earned. Nobody gave us anything.”

The Eagles were embracing the atmosphere and the excitement that came with it.

“When it was game point, it started to hit me and felt really real,” Way said. “That was such a cool feeling.”

Lake Norman Charter swept South Rowan (22-7) in the West Region final.

Earlier matches …

UCA upended up 15th-seeded Washington 25-7, 25-8, 25-11 and dispatched No. 10 seed Ledford 25-13, 25-14, 25-9, with Sadie Upchurch posting 26 digs. The Eagles blasted third-seeded East Duplin 25-10, 25-19, 25-17 in Saturday’s fourth round.

The Tigers reached the regional final by avenging a regular-season loss by toppling ninth-seeded Southwestern Randolph 19-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-18 on Saturday. Karrington Jones had 21 kills and Kadie Green made 28 digs for Randleman.

After a first-round bye, Randleman topped No. 13 seed Clinton 25-12, 25-13, 25-12. Then in the third round, the Tigers fended off fifth-seeded North Lenoir 23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 17-25, 15-10.

Southwestern Randolph (20-11) began last week with a 25-16, 25-11, 25-16 victory at eighth-seeded Anson County. The Cougars then ousted top-seeded Bunn 11-25, 25-14, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13 with Hailey Kennedy’s 27 assists, Maddie Baker’s 22 digs and Cheyanne Dixon’s 15 kills and 13 digs contributing.

** In Class 3-A West Region, No. 15 seed Trinity was a 25-19, 25-13, 24-26, 25-23 victor against second-seeded Black Mountain Owen. The Bulldogs (14-13) then fell to No. 10 seed Union Academy by 25-23, 25-21, 25-17 despite Hayli Cox’s 11 kills and Charlee Phillips’ three aces.

** In Class 3-A East Region, 15th-seeded Eastern Randolph’s season ended with a 25-19, 25-17, 25-21 loss at second-seeded Wallace-Rose Hill. The Wildcats ended 10-13.

** In Class 5-A West Region, ninth-seeded Asheboro lost 25-12, 25-15, 25-18 at eighth-seeded Sun Valley. The Blue Comets finished 18-8.