APEX, N.C. – When Apex defeated its crosstown rival Apex Friendship a month ago, all four sets were decided by five points or less.

The same was true on Tuesday night. This time, the Patriots weathered a late Cougar rally to win a marathon match 3-2 in five.

Apex Friendship took the first two sets of the match. The Patriots were in the driver’s seat to sweep with a 22-18 lead in the third. Apex rallied back to force a fourth and fifth set.

Maggie Weller’s attack from the outside and Caroline Smith’s dominance in the middle helped secure a 15-10 fifth set win to claim the match.

The Patriots had to rally from behind to earn a 26-24 first set win. Smith kick-started an 11-3 run to end the first when she rose to block a Kai Hazelett swing from the back row.

Carly Markham continued to seize the momentum with a highlight-reel dig to help knot the first at 24-24. The Patriot run ended with a Smith kill for set point.

Weller broke a 14-14 tie in the second set with a pair of aces. Hazelett and Elyse Smelcer battled back to narrow the Apex Friendship lead to one point late in the set, but Emma Mackie landed a kill from the right side to clinch a 25-23 win.

With a sweep in sight, Apex Friendship watched a pair of Hazelett kills and a Katie Raymer ace dissolve its late 22-18 lead in the third. Apex claimed 7 of the set’s final 8 points to win 25-23.

The Cougars had new life and Hazelett made the most of it in the fourth. She dominated the set from all spots on the floor. Smelcer pushed the match to a fifth set with a kill to secure a 25-20 victory.

Mackie, Weller, and Smith fueled a 5-0 run early in the fifth set to take a 7-5 lead.

Kate Helsley and Weller inflated the advantage to 12-9 before Dayne Harloff hammered down the match point at 15-10.

While consistency is never easy to manage in arguably the state’s toughest conference, Apex Friendship’s win was needed in many ways. The Patriots, who now have signature home wins over both the Cougars and top 2A team Seaforth, jumped over .500 at 8-7 overall.

In league play, Apex Friendship is 5-6 with three matches remaining. Currently, the Patriots are a game back in the standings from fourth place Holly Springs.

Based on RPI, HighSchoolOT’s latest playoff projections have all but one SWAC team destined to make the postseason.

Apex fell to 12-5 overall with the defeat. The Cougars are 8-3 in the conference, a half-game back of Green Hope for second place.

HighSchoolOT updates weekly NCHSAA playoff projections based off of the state’s RPI formula. This information is available for those who are HighSchoolOT Insiders. To view the most recent projections, click below.

Source: highschoolot.com