North Iredell volleyball earns redemption with state championship win

By Kyle Morton, HighSchoolOT producer

Raleigh, N.C. — When North Iredell won the 3A volleyball state championship on Saturday, the Raiders redeemed last season's heartbreaking loss and cemented their legacy in this era of North Carolina volleyball.

The fans made the long trip from Iredell County in droves. More than just the parents and a student section, a large contingent from the town showed up donning their red t-shirts with "The Road to Raleigh Runs Through Olin" printed on the back.

That road has indeed run through Olin, as the Raiders have been the dominant 3A West program in recent history with championships in 2008 and 2017 as well as appearances in 2010, 2011 and 2021.

But the only relevant one of those prior appearances to this group is last year's, a stunning loss to Cedar Ridge that left a bitter taste in the mouth's of this year's returning players.

Tradition doesn't graduate, but the players that make the tradition do, and the new players that come in to carry on that tradition still have to get acclimated to the biggest stages, even if the program as an institution is used to it.

"It was very unreal at first," senior setter Ailena Mykins said. "Once we walked in, it was like an unnerved feeling that we had, but compared to last year we just had a different feeling and a different atmosphere."

"In the past, we had a problem with getting in our heads," senior outside hitter Emma Norris said. "When another team has the lead... things aren't as easy as we expect them to come."

They got their redemption, but it didn't come easy. East champ J.H. Rose put up a tremendous fight and pushed the Raiders to the limit over five sets.

In the back-and-forth match, the Raiders executed both physically and strategically, all while maintaining their cool while the Rampants went on runs and took sets.

"It was not surprising, we knew that we could do it," Mykins said. "It was just an overwhelming feeling of happiness when we finally did it."

"In this atmosphere, with this kind of pressure against this kind of competition, I could not be more proud of what they accomplished," head coach Dave Markland said. "Just so blessed to be a part of this program."

While the Raiders had an incredible amount of talent, the group knew the work it would take to get back to this point, and hoped they could find what it took to get over the hump.

"This year we were playing game for game and every game after the other was the most important," Norris said. "But we knew our long term goal was to get back here and win this game so we didn't repeat last year."

"Last year after we lost, everybody went and started working ten times harder than they did the year before," Mykins added. "It just grew and grew over the year, so 365 days later we're here and we finally did it after all the hard work we put in."

The road to Raleigh will continue to run through Olin next season, but this group ensured that the road to the title as a whole does too.