RALEIGH, N.C. — A few months ago, Sophia Overholt’s season appeared done, and her senior year goal of repeating as a volleyball state champion was going to be either out of reach or something she’d have to watch play out from the bench. But, with a bulky brace on her right knee, she was on the court at N.C. State’s Reynolds Coliseum, and her dream was playing out the way she wanted — on her own terms, and again as a champion.

Polk County won the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A volleyball championship game against Perquimans on Saturday at N.C. State’s Reynolds Coliseum by a 3-0 score (25-15, 27-25, 25-12).

Overholt, a USC-Upstate recruit, wasn’t able to jump as high or dive as far as she did when she was MVP of last year’s title, but she didn’t need to either — the Wolverines, after all, have championship-caliber depth.

She didn’t even need to be MVP. That went to teammate Morgan Yoder, a senior middle blocker who had 17 kills and five blocks. Overholt had 13 kills and 13 digs.

“These girls did everything,” Overholt said. Her eyes filled with tears during the championship press conference. “I thought I wasn’t going to be able to come back and for me to come back and just be here with them just means everything to me.”

On top of an injury to its best player, Polk County had no practices for 19 days as power and cell service remained out for days after Hurricane Helene. Polk coach Molly Hill teared up thinking back to a text from Yoder asking about when and if senior night would be rescheduled.

“I didn’t have an answer,” Hill said.

Polk County was one of the worst areas affected.

“It was heartbreaking,” coach Molly Hill said. “It was scary. It was eerie. It looked like a war zone. My husband does tree work and so it took him five hours to cut us out of our driveway just so that we could go and see how bad things were. … My first mindset was not about volleyball but about safety and checking on these kids. … Luckily everyone on our team was safe.”

Polk County (22-3), the No. 3 seed from the West, was making its third appearance in a volleyball state championship match and now has two titles. Their only losses this year came to 3A finalist West Henderson (twice) and splitting matches with co-conference champion Brevard.

Polk County dominated the first and third sets and fended off the Pirates in a back-and-forth second set that, in hindsight, was pivotal for momentum.

Polk led 13-11 about midway through the first set when the Wolverines’ offense started rocking thanks to setter Charley Dusenbury, who finished with 38 assists, and expanded the lead to 20-13. There was nothing Perquimans could do with Yoder, and Polk County finished off the set 25-15.

The second set was evenly-matched, with 10 ties and four lead changes.

Perquimans led 11-9 early as Lilly Winslow and junior Kaydee Hunter got more involved at the net. Hunter had 16 kills and Winslow had seven.

But Polk County’s advantage in size — with Overholt, Yoder, and Mia Bradley (a UVA-Wise recruit) all standing tall at the net — helped the Wolverines pull back ahead. But for every move, there was a countermove, and Perquimans found angles, helped by the deft passing skills of setter Madelyn Stallings, to tie it up 22-22 late. Stallings ended with 24 assists.

It was tied 24-24, then 25-25, but Polk scored the final two points to win it 27-25.

In the third set, Polk County raced out to a 15-8 lead. With the Pirates facing the end of the road, Polk County turned up its back row defense and team passing to race to the finishing 25-12 margin.

Perquimans (26-2), the No. 3 seed in the East, was making its fourth appearance in the state final and was looking for its first title. Its only loss in the regular season came to Ayden-Grifton, the No. 1 seed in the 2A East, by a 3-1 score.

“Today, when we were able to get a good pass and run a good tempo, I thought that we were unstoppable, but we just couldn’t get in tempo and couldn’t really get our sets where we wanted because our passes were a little off,” Kristie Thach said. “We were just having to get it in as opposed to drive it in. But in that second set, it really could’ve gone either way.

Before the game, Perquimans’ Catherine Howell and Polk County’s Kylie Lewis were named NCHSAA sportsmanship award winners.