Millbrook Volleyball is hoping for another late season push to squeak into one of the final spots in the NCHSAA 4A State Playoffs. The Wildcats are riding lots of momentum going into a season defining match vs. Wakefield to close out the season. Coach Dickens' girls took their two game winning streak on the road to Broughton. The Capitals entered as the #1 ranked 4A team in North Carolina according to MaxPreps. They came in with a 17-0 record along with boasting only one set loss all season long, that came back on August 22nd vs. Providence High School.

Last time these two teams met, the Caps dispatched of the Wildcats rather quickly in straight sets. On Thursday night, the tables would turn as Millbrook jumped out to an early 5-0 lead on a pair of Madison Wrenn kills in the first set. As much as Broughton tried to answer, the visitors would match them kill for kill, Morgan Fiorini would set up Taylor Rebne for the kill causing the Capitals to call timeout down 12-5 in the first set. Broughton would come out of the timeout by tying things up at 16-16, and eventually going on to win the first set 25-21. Despite the loss, that had been one of the Wildcats' best played sets of the season, for Taylor Rebne, the team's chemistry led to such positive results.

"Well everyone was on top of their game for us tonight. We were very intense throughout the match, and especially in the first set... I really liked how passionate all of the girls were."

Broughton would continue their winning ways in the second set as they went on to win handedly, 25-15. Early on in the third set, the Capitals were entering unchartered waters. Eight times this season, an opponent has scored more than 20 points on the Caps in a single set. That has only occurred three times in conference play until Millbrook was able to do so in the first set. As remarkable as that feat may have been, the 10-11 Wildcats did the unthinkable. 

The third set would have a very reminiscent look to the first one as Millbrook jumped out to an early lead before Broughton came back. From there, each team matched themselves kill for kill. Rebne and Megan Alvey would break things open towards the latter half of the set as they gave the Wildcats a 19-14 lead. The Caps would not go down without a fight, they battled back to make it a two point set before Millbrook would extend it to 22-18. Coach Dickens would call timeout two plays later as Broughton's Katja Ehlers made it 22-20. The Caps would attempt to make the comeback in the third set but it came up short as Millbrook would win it 25-22. That is the second time that Broughton had lost a set this season, and the first time that they had done so in Cap-8 Conference play. Junior defensive specialist, Morgan Fiorini said the gameplan had always been to give the Capitals one of their toughest matches of the season and she feels like they executed that really well despite Broughton coming back to win the fourth set 25-17, and the match, 3-1.

"We really jelled as a team tonight. We had the mindset that we were taking at least a set off of them and that's what we did. We fought hard except for missing some key serves. We made sure that nothing came easy for them tonight... they had to work really hard and earn every point that they got tonight and that was the goal. I think this is the best we've played with this new rotation all season... Everyone was passionate and hard working tonight, and we really showed that we can fight against some of the top teams in not only the conference, but the state."

In HighSchoolOT.com's latest 4A Volleyball projections, the Wildcats were slated as one of the final teams to enter the bracket. Their position on the so called "playoff bubble" improved with a 3-0 win on Tuesday at Wake Forest, the loss on Thursday didn't help their cause but it provided loads of optimism going into their biggest match of the season. The best was indeed saved for last as Millbrook will host Wakefield on Monday night at 5:30PM for their Senior Night. The Wolverines won the 2013 4A State Championship but it was the Wildcats who have taken the last two matches, most recently a thrilling 5-4 win three weeks ago on the road. Both teams enter with identical records of 5-8 in the Cap-8 Conference, the winner of the match will presumably take one of the final playoff spots and fifth place in the conference standings. For this year's seniors, a win and playoff berth would make it four straight years with appearances in the 4A State Playoffs. Junior Varsity is scheduled to start from the Wildcat Gymnasium at 4:30PM with Varsity immediately following. For more information, follow Millbrook Volleyball on Twitter at @mhswildcatvball.