By Andy Pogach, Bria Irizarry and Colleen Gunning
Twitter: @daathletics
Instagram: @dacavsathletics
We are in the final week of the fall 2021 season, and our teams have shown that they can compete with the best in the state. Durham Academy was the only 4A school to have three teams competing in state semifinal action on Tuesday!
Postseason Roundup
On Monday, the girls golf team was just six strokes short of winning its first state title, finishing just behind North Raleigh Christian Academy (217–223) in the state championship in Greensboro. The state runner-up Cavs were led by All-State honoree seventh-grader Jenna Kim’s 3-under-par 69.
The boys soccer team made the five-hour trek to Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in Georgia on Tuesday to battle the Eagles in the N.C. Independent School Athletics Association (NCISAA) state semifinal. Unfortunately, a late first-half goal gave RG the momentum needed to take down the Cavs 3–0. Congrats to DA head coach Julian Cochran’s team for advancing to the Final Four!
The girls tennis team fell to top-seeded Charlotte Latin School 5–0 in the state semifinal on Tuesday afternoon in Charlotte. It was another banner year with a conference championship and a seventh straight trip to the Final Four.
The boys and girls cross-country teams will compete in the NCISAA State Cross-Country Championship on Friday morning at Olsen Park in Wilmington. You can follow along with the coverage on Twitter via @DAAthletics.
Congratulations to our volleyball team, who went on the road and swept previously unbeaten Cannon School on Tuesday to advance to the state championship game! The girls will play at 1 p.m. Saturday at top-seeded North Raleigh Christian Academy. Adult tickets are $10 at the door, while students are free of charge. If you can’t make it, you can watch from home via the livestream.
Performance of the Week
This week’s Performance of the Week is from DA varsity volleyball’s 3–0 semifinal win over Cannon School on Tuesday. The Cavaliers were quick to show their strength in front of the net, taking an early lead over the Cougars. Senior Gabby Marchese sent a hard ball around the Cannon block to put the first set away 25–20. Marchese led the way on offense with 19 kills and 16 digs, and she received 19 serves.
The energy grew in the second set, with the Cougars' offense taking the first lead. Ninth-grader McKenzie Graves was able to close the gap from the service line, but Cannon stayed close by. It came down to a tight battle later in the set, as both teams found themselves tied up at 23, 24 and 25. However, strong blocks by senior Allison Farnworth and junior Alexis Gelber were key in holding off the Cannon attack and allowing the Cavs to pull out a 27–25 win.
Juniors Olivia and Hannah Kohn connected passes to open teammates at the net to give DA a healthy lead in the third set. The Cavaliers continued to place the ball in the openings of the Cannon defense for a 25–21 win, completing the shutout. Hannah Kohn finished the night with 21 digs and two aces on 10 serves. Olivia Kohn added 41 assists and 13 digs, reaching a career milestone of 1,000 digs.
Seniors Marchese and Farnworth attribute the team’s success to being a cohesive unit on and off the court.
“Our bench and honestly everyone on the court is so supportive of each other when we score or get a great dig,” Marchese said. “Knowing that the team is behind you no matter what gives us the confidence to go out on the court and perform to the best of our abilities.”
“We celebrate every point and have a lot of fun doing so,” Farnworth added. “During practices, we’ve been very focused and driven and have used every opportunity to prepare ourselves for our next matchup.”
The No. 3 Cavaliers now advance to the state finals and face top-seeded NRCA at 1 p.m. Saturday in Raleigh.
Steinberg ➡️ O.Kohn ➡️Norry for the final kill to clinch the 25-21 third set win and shutout the Cougars! pic.twitter.com/jq0Ne9ws9V
— Durham Academy Athletics (@daathletics) October 27, 2021
Fan Frenzy
Next week we will host our first-ever Durham Academy Fan Frenzy in support of our varsity basketball programs! The event will take place in Kirby Gym, with limited tickets available for purchase. Our boys and girls basketball teams will be introduced, have a chance to warm up and give our fans and community a preview of what they can expect to see out on the court this season! We hope you and your family will join us in celebrating the start of what is sure to be an exciting winter hoops season!
Tickets will be available online soon!
Keeping Up with the Cavs
As always, you can keep up with the Cavs on Durham Academy’s website and the Durham Academy App (available on the Apple App Store).
- For a list of all teams, their schedules and directions to games, visit www.da.org/teams.
- Click on an individual team to subscribe to automatic alerts about athletics results, postponements and cancellations, calendar and athletic event reminders.
- All information about the daily athletics schedule is also available on DA’s Athletics Hotline: 919-489-2534 (ext. 5).
The DA App: Schedules and Results
- The DA App allows you to keep up with athletics wherever you are. You can download the app from iTunes at http://bit.ly/DACavaliers. The DA App pulls athletics content directly from the DA website and delivers it to iOS-based devices including iPhone and iPad.
- The Athletics portion of the DA App (after launching, click Menu, then click Athletics to open) features results of recent games, a list of upcoming contests and team records.