SWR’s title defense ends in heartbreak

MIKE DUPREZ

Randolph Hub

Three teams began the week in the state volleyball playoffs, but the closest any came to the state semifinals was Southwestern Randolph, which lost a heart-breaking five-set match on Saturday.

Here’s how the week played out:

VOLLEYBALL

*Gracie Hodgin pounded 14 kills while Madelyn Smith contributed 12 kills and 18 digs as No. 2 Southwestern Randolph swept No. 15 East Davidson 25-20, 25-22, 25-16 in the second round of the 2-A state playoffs. Coley Shiflet got 32 digs, Raegan LeRoy had 23 assists, Micah Wilson had 13 assists and Carleigh Whitson had 14 digs for the Cougars.

*Randleman fell 25-21, 25-20, 25-12 to No. 4 East Surry in the second round of the 2-A state playoffs. The 13th-seeded Tigers ended the season with a 17-6 record. 

*Uwharrie Charter, the No. 5 seed, swept No. 21 Hayesville 25-12, 25-18, 25-22 in the second round of the 1-A state playoffs. 

*Riley Key had 11 kills and 2 blocks in Southwestern Randolph’s 25-12, 25-9, 25-17 win over North Stanly in the third round of the 2-A state playoffs. Smith had 10 kills and a block. Hodgin had eight kills.

*Uwharrie Charter fell 25-22, 25-27, 24-26, 25-18, 15-12 to Highland Tech in the third round of the 1-A state playoffs.

*Southwestern Randolph’s bid to repeat as 2-A state champions came to a heartbreaking end on Saturday in the fourth round when the Cougars fell 21-25, 25-9, 23-25, 25-17, 21-19 to third-seeded Brevard. The Cougars finished their season with a 26-4 record.

GIRLS GOLF

*Asheboro’s Salem Lee shot rounds of 75 and 78 to finish fifth for the second straight year in the 3-A state tournament at Longleaf in Southern Pines. 

*Providence Grove’s Caroline Wright turned in rounds of 82 and 83 en route to a fourth-place finish in the 1-A/2-A state tournament at the Foxfire red course in Jackson Springs. The Patriots were also fourth as a team.

SOCCER

*Asheboro clinched a tie for the Mid-Piedmont Conference championship by playing second-place Ledford to a scoreless draw.

*Cristian Ortiz scored two goals as Asheboro made it official with a 3-1 win over Montgomery Central. The Blue Comets finished the regular season with a 19-1-2 record.

*Andrew Cox and Cooper Pollock scored the goals in Trinity's 2-1 victory over Randleman. It was the Bulldogs’ fifth straight win.

*Riley Queen had a goal and two assists as unbeaten Wheatmore downed Uwharrie Charter 5-1.

*Carlos Parroquin scored a hat trick in Uwharrie Charter’s 5-4 victory over Southwestern Randolph.

*Colin Burgess had 2 goals and 2 assists in unbeaten Wheatmore’s 9-0 shutout of Provoidence Grove to end the regular season. Queen added a pair of goals for the Warriors, who finished the regular season with a 17-0-4 record. Wheatmore and Trinity shared the PAC-7 championship.

*Wheatmore shut out Trinity 6-0 in a game to determine the top 2-A seed in the state playoffs from the PAC-7.

CROSS COUNTRY

*Eastern Randolph's Brecken Snotherly won the 1-A Midwest Regional and will compete as an individual in the state meet.

*Wheatmore’s Zach Hazelwood was third in the 2-A Midwest Regional and advanced to the state meet. So did Providence Grove's Robert Burton, who was 10th.