Green Level

Green Level won the 2021 4A Volleyball state championship vs Ardrey Kell, 3 at Reynolds Coliseum, NC State.

Notes

The Green Level Gators would not be denied, dominating Ardrey Kell in a three-set sweep to claim the school’s first state championship in any athletic event. The three-year-old school sent its first senior class in school history off with a bang, as Ellie Sampson led a powerful attack for Green Level, slamming down 12 kills in the match and adding a block and 15 digs on her way to MVP honors in the match. Green Level stormed out of the gates in the opening set, winning nine of the first 10 points, as Ardrey Kell struggled to find a rhythm and the Gators opened up a 9-1 advantage. The Gators continued the barrage until Ardrey Kell called their second timeout of the set at 16-5 to try and regroup from the powerful Gators offensive showing. Ava Toppin powered the ball into the court on a beautiful set to put Green Level up 20-8 before her turn on the service line. Morgan Downs added to the crushing power display with a right-handed blast to go up 22-9. Ellie Sampson finished the set off with a hard kill down the right line to close it out 25-9. The second set started off looking good for Green Level again as Olivia Hummel’s opening serve clipped the tape and fell in for an ace. Ardrey Kell responded quickly, however, rolling the next three points including a nice block at the net for a point by Alexis Shelton. The three-point swing helped Ardrey Kell to settle into the match and the two teams battled at the net with Shelton, Kailey Keough and the Knights dueling with Toppin, Sampson, and Hummell throughout the set. At nine all in the set, Alexis Shelton rotated to the back row for the Knights and that helped open some lanes for the Gators attack, stretching a lead out to 15-11 before Shelton rotated back to an attacking position. In the latter portion of the set, three net violations on the Knights helped cement a second set victory for Green Level, 25-19, pushing Ardrey Kell to the brink of elimination. The Gators picked up right where they left off in the third set. Green Level won four of the first five points with the fourth of those points coming on a block/kill at the net by Morgan Downs. Sampson and Downs added back-to-back kills to help the Gators pull out to a 7-2 lead ahead of Ardrey Kell’s first timeout of the set. Sampson found a sweet spot on the right front side, slamming several kills down to stretch the Green Level lead to 12-5 ahead of Ardrey Kell’s final timeout of the set. The momentum established by the Gator attack was simply too strong to overcome, as Green Level kept pounding hard swings at the Knights defense on their way to a 25-12 set win and match sweep. Ardrey Kell finished the season 31-2, the Knights won the So Meck 4A Conference title and advanced to the State Title Game for the second time in three years. Green Level finished the season 27-1. The Gators were 13-1, winning the Southwest Wake 4A Conference title. They won the school’s first regional and state championships in any sport.

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