Girls’ volleyball (State playoffs)

Here are quick recaps from the first round of the NCHSAA playoffs.

1A

In the East bracket, No. 23 Southern Wake Academy forfeited its matchup against No. 10 Excelsior Classical Academy, sending the Flying Lions to the second round.

Chatham Central, the No. 16 seed in the West, fell to No. 17 Hiwassee Dam 3-1. The teams split the first two sets, but the Eagles took the final two frames.

2A

No. 14 Eno River advanced to the second round of the East bracket with a 3-2 win over No. 19 Rosewood. Down two sets to one, Eno River took the fourth set 25-15 and the final frame 15-6.

Further down in the bracket, No. 18 Voyager Academy fell to No. 15 Southside 3-0.


3A

No. 16 Pender edged No. 17 NCSSM-Durham 3-2 in the East bracket. After winning the opening frame in extra play, the Unicorns forced a fifth set with a 25-17 win in the fourth. Pender won the final set 15-9.

No. 9 South Lenoir swept No. 24 Northwood in the same bracket.


4A

No. 10 Carrboro handled No. 23 Fairmont 3-0 in the East bracket. The Jaguars won every set by double digits.


6A

Northern Durham, the No. 16 seed in the East, defeated No. 17 E.E. Smith 3-1. Sophomore Shakira Johnson recorded 11 aces. The Knights won their first playoff game since 2019.


7A

In the East bracket, No. 16 Riverside fell to No. 17 Overhills 3-2. The final four sets were decided by no more than five points.

No. 24 Southern Durham lost to No. 9 Ashley 3-0 in the same bracket. The Spartans made the playoffs for the first time since 2023.


Second round matchups (Tuesday)

1A West: No. 11 Thomas Jefferson Classical at No. 6 Chatham Charter
1A East: No. 17 Oxford Prep at No. 1 Woods Charter; No. 10 Excelsior Classical Academy at No. 7 Bear Grass Charter
2A East: No. 14 Eno River Academy at No. 3 Perquimans; No. 11 East Wake Academy at No. 6 Research Triangle
4A East: No. 10 Carrboro at No. 7 Central Davidson
5A East: No. 16 South Granville at No. 1 Seaforth; No. 9 Croatan at No. 8 Orange; No. 15 Dixon at No. 2 Cedar Ridge
6A East: No. 16 Northern Durham at No. 1 West Johnston; No. 13 Northern Nash at No. 4 East Chapel Hill
7A East: No. 12 Cleveland at No. 5 Chapel Hill


Girls’ Tennis (State playoffs)

Here are quick recaps from the first two rounds of the NCHSAA dual team state playoffs.

1A

No. 4 Chatham Central defeated No. 5 Southern Wake 5-0 in the first round of the East bracket.

2A

Eno River Academy, the No. 3 seed in the West rolled into the third round with a 5-1 win over No. 14 Alleghany and a 7-2 win over No. 6 Cherryville.

In the East, No. 1 Research Triangle, the defending state champions, took down No. 9 Gates County 8-1.

3A

NCSSM-Durham, the top seed in the East, blanked No. 17 West Bladen 8-0 to advance to the third round.

Further down in the bracket, No. 10 Northwood upset No. 7 Goldsboro 5-4 in the second round.


4A

No. 3 Carrboro, the defending state champions, advanced to the third round in the East with a 9-0 win over No. 14 SouthWest Edgecombe.

No. 11 Morehead defeated No. 22 Jordan-Matthews 7-2 in the first round.


5A

In the East bracket, No. 6 Orange took down NO. 22 Richlands in the second round 7-2.

No. 10 Seaforth posted two shutouts on the way to the third round, beating both No. 23 St. Pauls and No. 7 Fike by a score of 6-0.

Before falling to No. 1 Croatan 5-1 in the second round, No. 17 Durham School of the Arts upset No. 16 Havelock 5-0.

No. 11 Cedar Ridge was on the other side of an upset, however, falling to Richlands 8-1.


6A

No. 6 East Chapel Hill is in the East third round after a 5-0 win over No. 11 Southern Alamance in the second round.

No. 22 Northern Durham forfeited its first round matchup against Southern Alamance.


7A

Chapel Hill, the No. 17 seed in the West, took down No. 16 South Iredell 5-1 in the opening round. The Tigers fell short of No. 1 Weddington 5-1 in the second round.

In the East, No. 9 Riverside defeated No. 24 South Garner 6-09 and No. 8 Cleveland 5-1 to advance to the third round.


8A

In the West first round, No. 12 Jordan fell to No. 5 Northwest Guilford 5-3.


Third round matchups (Monday)

1A East (second round): No. 4 Chatham Central at No. 1 Chatham Charter
2A West: No. 3 Eno River at No. 2 Bishop McGuinness
2A East: No. 5 East Carteret at No. 1 Research Triangle
3A East: No. 8 North Moore at No. 1 NCSSM-Durham; No. 10 Northwood at No. 2 Greene Central
4A East: No. 6 North Johnston at No. 3 Carrboro
5A East: No. 6 Orange at No. 3 C.B. Aycock; No. 10 Seaforth at No. 2 Western Alamance
6A East: No. 6 East Chapel Hill at No. 3 Northern Nash
7A East: No. 9 Riverside at No. 1 Cardinal Gibbons


Boys’ soccer

Jordan snapped a two-week winning drought with a 1-0 win over Panther Creek.

Southern Durham got revenge over Chapel Hill in a 4-1 win. The Spartans had four different players score. That was their third win in a row before a 4-4 double-overtime draw with Northern Durham two days later.

Northern Durham took down Riverside 3-1 to avenge an earlier shutout against the Pirates.

Chapel Hill completed a season sweep of East Chapel Hill with a 5-4 win in double overtime. Sophomore David Fleming scored the game-winning goal with nine seconds left to play. Five different Tigers logged a goal in the victory.

Seaforth extended its win streak to three with a 4-1 win over Durham School of the Arts and an 8-1 win over J.F. Webb.

Carrboro took down Orange (2-0), Durham School of the Arts (4-0) and Cedar Ridge (3-1) to extend its win streak to 10. The Jaguars have allowed one goal in their last six games.

Jordan-Matthews is on a four-game win streak after shutting out Eastern Randolph 4-0 and edging North Moore 3-2.

Northwood continued its reign on top of the Four Rivers Conference with a 3-0 win over Uwharrie Charter and a 2-1 victory over Eastern Randolph.

NCSSM-Durham is on a five-game win streak with more clean sheets over East Wake Academy (6-0) and Triangle Math and Science (2-0).

Woods Charter is rolling after picking up two more clean sheets against Clover Garden (5-0) and The Hawbridge School (9-0). The Wolves are 5-0 and lead the Central Tar Heel Conference with an 11-0 conference record.


Top performances

Miles Tobolski (Chapel Hill; one goal and an assist in 5-4 win over East Chapel Hill)
Harrison Boyle (Chapel Hill; one goal and an assist in 5-4 win over East Chapel Hill)
David Fleming (Chapel Hill; game-winning goal in 5-4 win over East Chapel Hill)
Anderzon Alvarado (Southern Durham; one goal and an assist in 4-1 win over Chapel Hill)
Cedrick Hamza (Northern Durham; one goal and an assist in 3-1 win over Riverside)
Kevin Mendez Andrade (Northern Durham; 10 saves and one goal allowed in 3-1 win over Riverside)
Noah Filiano (East Chapel Hill; two goals in 10-1 win over Hillside)
Manny Bastidas (Carrboro; two goals in 4-0 win over Durham School of the Arts)
Aaron Morales (Cedar Ridge; two goals and an assist in 5-2 win over J.F. Webb)
Matias Camacho (Research Triangle; one goal and an assist in 2-0 win over Triangle Math and Science)
Richard De Jesus (Research Triangle; six saves and a clean sheet in 2-0 win over Triangle Math and Science)


Girls’ flag football

Southern Durham handed Riverside its first loss 21-14. Senior quarterback Natalynn Snipes-Draine ran in a 10-yard scramble for the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Hillside picked up its first win of the year with a 21-0 shutout over Northern Durham.

Seaforth extended its win streak to five with victories over J.F. Webb (33-6), Durham School of the Arts (27-0) and Green Level (32-27). Green Level came back from down multiple scores to take a 27-26 lead over Seaforth, but senior quarterback Annika Johansson ran in a go-ahead 38-yard touchdown with 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Northwood defeated Jordan-Matthews 31-13 and Uwharrie Charter 32-8 to extend its win streak to 11.

Jordan-Matthews followed the loss with a 12-6 win over Uwharrie Charter and a 20-0 shutout over Ascend Leadership Academy.


Top performances

Natalynn Snipes-Draine (Southern Durham; two rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdown in 21-14 win over Riverside)
Annika Johansson (Seaforth; four rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdown in 32-27 win over Green Level)
Alaina Toomer (Northwood; five passing touchdowns, an offensive interception and a defensive interception in 31-13 win over Jordan-Matthews)
Camryn Lux (Northwood; four receiving touchdowns and an interception in 31-13 win over Jordan-Matthews)
Abbigail Weir (Northwood; two interceptions in 32-8 win over Uwharrie Charter)
Makayla Martin (Jordan-Matthews; two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown in 20-0 win over Ascend Leadership)


Girls’ golf

East Chapel Hill won the Big Seven Conference tournament at Chapel Hilll CC with a combined score of 276 (60 over par). The rest of the field finished in the order of Orange, Chapel Hill, Seaforth, Carrboro and Cedar Ridge.

NCSSM-Durham won the Diamond Nine Conference match at Zebulon CC with a combined core of 284 (68 over par). Research Triangle finished fifth in the competition.


Top performances

Peyton Harris (Jordan; first in match with Willow Spring, Green Level and Fuquay-Varina at Bentwinds CC with a score of 43 or six over par)
Isabella Shen (East Chapel Hill; Big Seven Conference tournament champion with a score of 85 or 13 over par)
Jean Choi (NCSSM-Durham; first in Diamond Nine Conference match at Zebulon CC with a score of 87 or 15 over par)