Arendell Parrott Academy’s Alli Grant Avery goes up for a kill in the Patriots’ win over West Johnston Wednesday. Photo by William ‘Bud’ Hardy / Neuse News

By Junious Smith III

In a rare public-private school matchup, Arendell Parrott Academy’s volleyball team showed it could handle any competition.

The Patriots defeated West Johnston 25-17, 25-15, 25-20 at home Wednesday. The game was tightly contested early, but APA (9-1) stepped up to pick up the win.

“West Johnston played with a lot of energy and are very scrappy on defense,” Parrott coach David Barnes said. “They have a very good setter in (Madison Greene) who does a great job blocking at the net. Their power hitter, (Megan Bost), we had special attention on her and made sure to put two blockers with her.

“(The Wildcats are a) very high-energy team and I’m glad we were able to beat them with sizeable margins. They’re a team we had to be well-prepared for, and for the most part I’m happy with the production of the team and effort.”

The first set had 10 ties and three lead changes. After the teams split the first eight points, kills from Alli Grant Avery and Virginia Edmondson put APA up 6-4. West Johnston responded with a flurry, as a 5-2 run — highlighted by a Kara Baker kill — put the Wildcats up 13-10. North Johnston had a 14-13 advantage, but an Edmondson kill triggered a 6-1 run and APA never looked back.

Megan Bost had two kills and a service ace, coupled with a kill and ace from Baker, had West Johnston ahead 6-5 in the second set, but a block from Mackenzie Pope started a 7-1 spurt to give Parrott momentum. The Patriots wouldn’t look back, never letting the advantage get below four and coasting for the remainder of the set.

“Our intensity picked up,” Pope said. “In the first game, we were kind of going through the motions before realizing we had to pick it up and play stronger.”

Pope’s service ace started a 3-0 run in the third set and APA never relinquished the advantage. West Johnston kept it close, getting within 21-20, but the Patriots closed the match out with four straight, including two Avery kills and a Pope ace.

“We had to focus more on our side of the net,” Avery said. “At first, we were worried about what they were doing on their side and needed to play our game — making sure our passes were good and taking good shots.”

West Johnston coach Tangela Faulkner said the game against Parrott will do the team wonders in conference and postseason play.

“We went up against one of the fastest-paced teams, and it was something we were excited about,” Faulkner said. “Sometimes, losing isn’t the worst thing in the world and we can make adjustments moving forward. I thought the girls did a great job and we know we have to serve more aggressively, especially against a team with a bigger front row.

“I reached out to Parrott because we knew they had a strong program and it would be great competition for us. We’ll learn from this game and when we play some of the bigger teams in our conference, we’ll be ready.”