Northlake senior Peyton Vetter was all smiles after her team’s Division IV second-round playoff match on Nov. 3.
The senior had good reason to celebrate as her 14-point service run in the first set the tone for a 25-8, 25-13, 25-11 home victory over St. Thomas Aquinas.
“It definitely helped the team gain a lot of confidence to be able to come back from those first two errors and keep our serve. It boosted my confidence a lot too, and it was very beneficial to the team,” Vetter said. “This is just an amazing win. It’s been a great senior year, so now we’re ready for the quarterfinals. If we can play like we did tonight, we can play with any team.”
The Wolverines (21-13) advanced to the state quarterfinals for the sixth straight season, and sophomore Abigail Bailey’s 21 kills played a big part in the team’s success.
“It feels so nice,” Bailey said. “I’m proud of how far we’ve come. We’ve improved so much this season. I’m proud of our defense for stepping up. We’ve just improved all around.”
The Wolverines dropped the first two points of the match before a sideout brought Vetter to the service line. She calmly reeled off 14 straight points to put NCS firmly in control as Bailey’s back-row kill sealed a 25-8 victory.
The Falcons (13-9) hung tough in the second set before the Wolverines closed on a 16-6 run to take a 2-0 lead. The third set was more of the same – tough serving and Bailey’s heavy hitting – as the Wolverines closed out a 25-11 victory.
Abigail Drury added 30 assists, while Carolyne Willie had 10 digs. Vetter posted seven digs and five aces, and Ruby Busenitz added five kills.
Northlake will play district foe and second-seeded Pope John Paul II in the quarterfinals on Nov. 10 at the Cajundome. The Jaguars advanced with a dominating 25-5, 25-1, 25-13 win over No. 15 Port Allen.
“Pope is definitely a challenging team, but I’d say it’s more mentally than physically,” Bailey said. “They are a smart team, but we feel like we can beat them. We hung with them for a while, so I’m excited to see how we’re going to play them.”
Northlake’s last win in the quarterfinals came during its state championship run in 2009, but Wolverine’s coach Lindsey Donovan said her team is ready to break that streak.
“I don’t know what it is about STA, but our team has this grudge against them, so every time we play, it’s no mercy,” Donovan said. “I love that about this team. It’s a playoff game, and they gave it everything they had. So now, we’re ready to break the curse and move past the quarterfinals. Pope is just a name to us, so if we can get that in our heads, we feel like we can beat them.”
