Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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28 UCW NOVEMBER 7-13, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS The pieces were there for Freedom Christian Academy to win its first North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association state volleyball championship this season, but it took first-year coach Wyndee Mathias and her senior-laden squad sev- eral games for the picture to come into focus. Once it did, it was an abso- lute masterpiece. After starting the season with a 9-6 record, Freedom ended with a 13-0 run that included outscoring its opponents 39-1. In the title game, the Patriots avenged an earlier loss to Gaston Day with their twelfth 3-0 win in their last 13 games. Mathias told her team the first part of the season would be a learning process for them and for her. "We're going to experiment with lineups, changes and dif- ferent things,'' she explained to them. "We'll get a starting point and know where we've got to work from.'' But she also made them aware of their potential. "I told them you are very capa- ble of playing in the state playoffs and going far,'' she said. "I told them your only limitation would be you.'' The Patriots qualified for the state playoffs as the No. 6 seed, meaning the trip to the championship match would have to include wins over the top three seeds in the tournament. Throughout the win streak, Mathias said the team never discussed what they were doing, focusing only on the next game on the schedule and no further. In the finals with Gaston Day, she said, the team was only at about 70 to 75 percent of effectiveness and had to play more of a mental than a physical game. "They fought through that game and ground for every point they could,'' she said. For much of the season, the Patriots were led by NCISAA All-State selections Jasmine Wooten and Sophie Majerske. Majerske is a setter, Wooten an outside hitter. "I think we all played a lot harder because it was our last year and we've gone through ups and downs together,'' Wooten said. "We really wanted to win for each other.'' Majerske said, "For the seniors, it was knowing for a lot of us this was our last time. We're not playing in college. We really just went hard.'' Despite the loss of nine seniors this year, Mathias is optimistic about Freedom's chances to compete for the title next season. "We're looking at how we can improve the program from the sixth grade up,'' she said. "We're focusing on the entire program and how we can develop a much stronger program." Strong finish nets Freedom Christian state title by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Freedom Christian Academy ended its season with a 13-0 run. Future of girls golf bright at Jack Britt by EARL VAUGHAN JR. A strong finish in this year's North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4-A golf tournament by Jack Britt and the pending return of sopho- more sisters Mckenzie and Mckayla Daffin has the future of Buc girls golf looking bright. Britt finished tied for fourth with Cardinal Gibbons High School in this year's two-day 4-A tournament held last month at Pinehurst No. 3. With only the Daffin sisters and senior Angelique Seymour qualifying for the state tournament from Britt, all three scores counted toward the team total each day of the tournament. Britt posted the best score of any team in the state finals with only three players participating: 490. Mckenzie led the way, shooting 78-80-150. Seymour recorded 84-81-165, and Makayla shot 84-83-167. The performance didn't surprise Britt golf coach Ray Musselwhite. "I felt we had the potential to go further than we'd ever gone before,'' he said. "We beat Pinecrest for the first time (in a regular season match) and qualified four girls back to the regionals.'' Musselwhite was especially impressed with the play of Mckenzie Daffin. "She battled through a swing change and was struggling a bit at mid- season with the consistency she wanted," he said. He praised Seymour for surviving her first experi- ence facing the strong level of competition in the state tournament. "I can't say enough about how she performed, especially on day two, picking up strokes and battling down the stretch,'' he said. Seymour, who picked up golf about four years ago, said she's gotten a few college offers and is seriously considering one from Belmont Abbey. "I'm thinking about going there and studying biol- ogy,'' she said. "I might go to a larger school and play as a walk-on.'' Mckayla picked up strokes the second day and also improved her overall play. What's most impressive about the success of the Britt team is the Daffin sisters have only been play- ing golf a few years. Seymour said the Daffin sisters weren't look- ing ahead of what was in front of them in the state finals. "By the time they are seniors, they should be state champion contenders,'' Musselwhite said. Looking ahead, Mckenzie likes her driver and iron play but wants to work on her short game. "I'd like to see my putts come down and to save more strokes with chipping,'' she said. "I want to become more accurate with my clubs and irons.'' Mckayla added 20 yards to her drives this year but wants to improve her irons and chipping. "By the end of next year, I'd like to be shooting around mid- 70s or lower,'' she said. "I'm definitely going to put the work in to make it possible.'' L-R: Mckayla Daffin, Angelique Seymour, Mckenzie Daffin Attention Students: Let Your Voice Be Heard Get published in our award-winning community newspaper Up & Coming Weekly Send in your feature articles, editorials, short stories, movie and music reviews or original poetry and artwork to: highschoolhighlights@upandcomingweekly.com Subject line: High School Highlights Please include your photo and school information.