Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

Apex topples Cary Academy

The match pitted two of area's best volleyball teams and state powers.

Neither Apex nor Cary Academy's volleyball programs are used to losing, unless it happens against a state champion-caliber team.

But when those two teams met on Wednesday night, each with realistic championship hopes, and matched talents with one another, somebody was going to have a loss. And it was going to come much earlier than in normal seasons.

Apex (1-0) downed the hosting Chargers in four games, 23-25, 25-22, 25-19 and 25-15.

It was the season opener for Apex, which returns all of its players from last year's 20-4 squad.

"The level of this match was probably one of the better matches we'll see. Probably one of the three best matches [we'll have this] year," Apex coach Nikki O'Connell said.

Cary Academy (8-1) is returning two all-state players from its 33-1 NCISAA 3-A runners-up team a year ago. And while it took 34 matches last season for the Chargers to suffer its first loss, it only took only two this year.

But Chargers coach Melanie Bryant hopes that by playing a high-level opponent like Apex early in the season, lessons are learned quickly.

"I think this is great that we played them this early so we see what we have to work on and where we need to go to move forward," Bryant said.

"We know exactly where our weaknesses are now, whereas before I don't know that we've faced anybody who has shown us exactly where they were. It's a good thing that it happened this early because now we can focus on what we need to."

Apex showed the rust in the first game, committing eight service errors. A fired-up Cary Academy team led by as many as nine and held off a late Cougar comeback to take the first game 25-23.

"We usually don't start out playing such an awesome team at the beginning of the season," Apex junior outside hitter Megan Gravley said. "We were really nervous. First-game jitters I guess. The first set we just got pulled under, but we picked it up at the end."

The second game was a classic tug-of-war battle which saw four lead changes and eight ties as Apex pulled away at the end to win.

Despite Cary Academy winning 10 of the last 14 points in the third game, Apex took a 2-1 lead in the match. A strong start by the Cougars in that game, leading by as many as 11, prevented the Charger comeback.

Aggressive serving by Apex was a big change from the match's opening game, and it allowed the Cougars to find their comfort zone.

"We just had to regain control, and once we gained control we were fine," O'Connell said.

In the fourth, Apex jumped out again to a sizable lead, this time a 7-0 run. The Cougars won what was the only game decided by more than six.

Even putting aside Apex's Kris Harris and Alston Kearns, who are slated to go to Elon and Tennessee respectively, and Cary Academy's Ashleigh Crutcher, who has committed to Maryland, the teams boasted plenty of Division I recruits.

The Cougars, who will begin conference play against Lee County on Thursday, aren't done with facing some of the area's best teams. Apex has two matches with defending NCHSAA 3-A champ Cardinal Gibbons as well.

"I want us to play tough competition anytime we step on the floor," O'Connell said. "I try to make our out-of-conference matches the hardest teams we play."

Cary Academy won the Heritage High tournament over the weekend, going 7-0.