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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

Somebody could write a horror movie about facing the Reagan volleyball team.

When the top-seeded Raiders bounced Davie in the second round of the 4-A playoffs on Oct. 24, they moved to 35-0 and picked up their 26th 3-0 sweep in 28 tries. At this point, they had captured 84 of 86 sets.

Their dominance just continued when they beat 17th-seeded Davie for the third time this season (25-14, 25-9, 25-16).

“I thought Reagan’s team (that went 28-2 in 2017) several years back with Nya Steele, Bailey Hatchett and Hunter (Beem) was the best,” coach Amber Brandon said. “I think last year’s Reagan team (36-1) was stronger than this year’s team. Volleyball in our area is just a little down.”

The War Eagles, who went 16-8 after finishing in a three-way tie for second in the CPC and beating South Iredell in the first round, said goodbye to five seniors: Lauren O’Connor, Mikaylah Hutton, Malia Privett, Caroline Lakey and Hailey Johnson.

“I feel really good about the season,” Brandon said. “We graduated seven seniors in 2022. Two of those had been on varsity all four years with another two on varsity for three. Then we graduated five seniors last year. Two of those had been on varsity all four years with another on varsity for three. In two years, we graduated all of our offense and all of our leadership. I think a lot of people counted us out, but this senior class stepped up to the challenge. They worked harder this offseason than any class, they put the time in during club and in our own gym, they worked on their team bond and their leadership. And I think had Malia not gotten hurt so early, it’s second place outright and not a share. I think this group as a whole has battled more throughout their four years at Davie than any other class. They started with COVID, they battled injuries all four years and they’ve stuck it out.”

Reagan is the only CPC team still alive. Reynolds lost 3-0 to Northern Guilford in the first round. West Forsyth won 3-0 over East Forsyth in the first round, but lost 3-0 to Marvin Ridge in the second round.