Providence High took unusual road to state volleyball finals. Now it wants to finish

The Providence High School girls volleyball team had an especially rough road to the state 4A championship match. But, a skeptic might add, so did every other state finalist in this year of COVID-19.

Granted, nobody had it easy this year. But Providence’s route to Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. state title showdown with Cardinal Gibbons (16-0), at Green Level High in Cary, has been a few levels above what any other championship finalist has faced this season.

Nobody on the Panther team, especially coach Maggie Malone, has complained. “We won’t make any excuses,” Malone has said several times during the playoffs.

But Providence (18-0) has overcome a giant hill of obstacles:

The Seeding: COVID-19 pushed back the volleyball season more than two months, and the N.C. High School Athletic Association simplified the playoff bracket procedure. It changed the seeding format, and despite a 14-0 regular-season record, the Panthers were seeded fifth.

That meant they had only one home playoff match.

And there were some head-scratchers in the bracket. The fourth seed was McDowell County, which lost four times in the regular season. And the top seed was Northwest Guilford, which lost once — at home to Providence.

The Shutdown: On Jan. 13, the day of the playoff’s second round, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board met to consider extending remote learning into February. But the board also considered a proposal to halt all sports activities until mid-February. That would have ended the Panthers’ season.

All this played out on a Thursday morning, while Malone was teaching math classes and her players were doing their classes remotely.

“My principal and my athletic director tried to help me, but not letting me know what was happening,” Malone said.

Providence got a reprieve. CMS Superintendent Earnest Winston decided to allow three volleyball teams, including Providence, and the system’s cross-country athletes to finish out their playoffs.

“We really appreciate what Superintendent Winston did for us,” Malone said.

But, she added, “It was a very long day.”

The Practices: Or, rather, the lack of practices. The school system allowed Providence to play, but the Patriots were not permitted to hold practices between the rounds of the playoffs.

“We talked about the next match and got some rest,” Malone said. “But no practices.”

Madison Cail, the Panthers’ standout senior middle blocker, said playing this season “involved some sacrifices. But don’t get me wrong — we appreciated every minute that we got to practice and play.”

The Travel: Being seeded fifth, and the luck of the draw, turned Providence into a group of road warriors. The Panthers’ first-round match against Jordan was at home, but after that, they have traveled to McDowell County (round trip, 222 miles), Northwest Guilford (220), Green Hope (284) and now to Saturday’s final at Green Level High in Cary (270). For those of you counting at home, that’s nearly 1,000 miles.

Saturday’s other finals

(all finals at Green Level High)

Class 3A: Cox Mill (18-0), which won the 3A title in 2016, faces D.H. Conley (15-1) at 6 p.m. This match had been scheduled for 1 p.m., but the NCHSAA switched places with the 1A final. That’s because Cox Mill senior Raven Gray, who has 100 kills this season, is a Seventh-Day Adventist and would not have been able to play Saturday afternoon. In her denomination, the time from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday is the sabbath.

D.H. Conley is led by the Philpot sisters — freshman Ashlyn and junior Ella.

Class 2A: Defending state champion Fred T. Foard (18-0) faces McMichael (17-1), which is in the final for the first time. The match is set for 10:30 a.m. The Tigers’ leader is senior hitter Michelle Thao, the Most Valuable Player of the 2019 state finals.

Class 1A: At 1 p.m., Mountain Island Charter (18-0) squares off against East Wake Academy (12-1). It’s the first time in the final for each school, and it’s the first time any Mountain Island Charter team has reached a state championship. It’s also believed to be the first time a team from Gaston County has reached the finals in volleyball.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle