By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
CHOCOWINITY — The Southside Seahawks continued to steamroll their way through the postseason as they swept West Columbus 25-8, 25-11, 25-17 to advance into the third round of the NCHSAA 1-A playoffs Saturday.
Since losing its first set against Northside in the first round of the Atlantic Conference Tournament, Southside has won nine straight sets.
On Saturday, the Seahawks’ serving and net play was once again the catalyst in their win, as Courtney Avery, Mandi Harding and Dot Jones diced up the Vikings with their strong serves.
After the Seahawks’ tremendous 3-0 win over Williamston in the conference championship game, the potential was there for a let down against the Vikings (4-15), the No. 2 seed from the Southeastern Conference. However, Southside, the No. 2 seed from the Atlantic Conference never let up.
Wary of her team dropping its guard against West Columbus, Pruden opted not to give her team any information about its opponent.
The Seahawks jumped on the Vikings early, and after a Becky Poole ace took a 14-4 lead.
Once again, the Seahawks’ intensity never wavered throughout all three sets.
Southside dominated the net, as Harding and Daneilya Whitney routinely found holes in the Vikings’ defense with their spikes.
The Southside setters also did a nice job getting their hitters the ball.
In the second match, Southside got off to a hot start again, as a Whitley kill put it up 19-9, en route to a 25-11 victory.
The third match was much of the same, as the Seahawks dominated to close out the game.
Southside was on point all night, as West Columbus was unable to score three straight points until midway through the third match.
The Vikings only scored back-to-back points six times.
Pruden said her team has really started to come together at the right time.