Powerhouse Charlotte Latin (40-2) won its eighth straight N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association championship last Saturday, defeating the Eagles 3-0 in the 3A final at Cary Academy.
The loss was the first for SouthLake, which won the Metrolina Athletic Conference and was 27-0 after two postseason wins.
"Saturday, we just faced a stronger, bigger team in Latin," said SouthLake coach Rachel Noreika. "We didn't play well enough to push them."
Latin's Eve Davis had 23 kills, and the Hawks prevailed 25-16, 25-19, 25-15 to stop the Eagles' bid at a second consecutive state championship.
SouthLake won the NCISAA 2A crown last season, but with the highest attendance in school history, shifted to the 3A classification, the NCISAA's largest, this year.
Seeded No. 2 in the playoffs, SouthLake had a first-round bye in the 12-team bracket, then beat No. 10 Forsyth Country Day 3-2 and No. 6 Charlotte Country Day 3-0 on Friday to advance to meet the top-seeded Hawks.
"Moving up to 3A and accepting the challenge and being back in the finals again says a lot about what we want to do in the program," said Noreika.
Huskies lose at Watauga for 2nd year
Though it was one round deeper than last year, Hough's successful season ended where it did in 2010: at Watauga.
The I-Meck champion Huskies (28-4) reached the fourth round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A playoffs, but fell 3-0 to the Pioneers.
"We were just flat, just like last year," said Hough coach Sandi Skidmore, whose team reached the round of eight for the first time. "It's like deja vu. We couldn't do anything right, no matter who we had in. They did everything right."
Watauga (22-8) won 25-18, 25-21 and 25-16 one round after Hough rallied from a Game 1 loss to win 3-1 at McDowell. Skidmore said her team started slow against McDowell, but recovered.
"The next three games, we came out fine," she said. "It was like we had to get going."
Watauga lost 3-1 Tuesday to Providence.
Knights exit in third round
Lake Norman Charter's season ended in the third round of the NCHSAA 1A playoffs.
The Knights, champions of the Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference, lost their only match of the year last Thursday 3-2 to Hendersonville.
Hendersonville took the first two games rather easily, 25-17 and 25-14, before LNC rallied to win the next two 25-8 and 25-20. But Hendersonville prevailed 15-13 in the decisive fifth game.
LNC closed the year 25-1. Hendersonville (18-6) lost in the fourth round at Murphy.
