News

Halfway Through the Fall Season, the Cavs are Cruising

By Andy Pogach, Director of Athletics

At the halfway point of the fall season, our seven fall varsity teams are off to great starts, with many expecting to challenge for state titles. In fact, all five of our girls teams are in the top half of the NCISAA 4A rankings. We are looking forward to Friday’s Homecoming festivities — thank you for your support of our student-athletes!

Updated Standings and Rankings

There are 17 schools in the NCISAA 4A.
*MaxPreps numerical rating
^MileSplit team scores
HighSchoolOT produces overall statewide and area code rankings.

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Cross Country

Let’s start with our defending state champion girls cross country team, which has shown its depth during the first half of the season. Even after losing five-time All-State honoree Audrey Crowder ’26 to graduation and with returning All-State honoree Helen Barritt ’28 just now returning to competition after an injury, the girls have had some impressive results. None was bigger than Saturday’s second-place finish in the prestigious Hare and Hounds XC Invitational in Charlotte. Running at McAlpine Park, the site of the upcoming state meet, the Cavs placed five runners in the top 50 and finished second in the championship race only to public school power Marvin Ridge. The girls were led by Sybil Ludington ’30 with a 28th-place finish time of 19:49; completing DA’s quintet of scorers were Harper Maxwell ’28 (19:49), Anya Kumar ’31 (19:53), Elliot Register ’28 (20:07) and Celsey O’Hare ’29 (20:26). The Cavs finished ahead of Charlotte Country Day School, their closest NCISAA 4A competition. This is the second straight weekend that the Cavaliers girls had a strong performance in one of the state’s biggest meets. On Sept. 11, the girls placed sixth in Kernersville’s Friday Night Lights. Ludington (19th) and Maxwell (21st) paced the Cavs to the top independent school finish.  

The boys team placed ninth in the Hare & Hounds XC invitational race, paced by Redmond Thorne ’27 (17:43). Joey Borawski ’30 (17:53), Gibbs Durack ’28 (17:59), Akhil Radhakrishnan ’30 (18:04) and John David Spatola ’28 (18:50) completed the Cavs’ top five. The DA boys placed 31st at the Friday Night Lights event, with Thorne (17:12) and Spatola (17:49) pacing the team. Both boys and girls teams are back in action at home this Thursday afternoon as they host St. Mary’s School, Wake Christian Academy, Trinity Academy, Cary Academy and the Chapel Hill Cheetahs.  

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Field Hockey

The DA girls field hockey team improved to 6–4 following Wednesday’s 7–0 victory over Ravenscroft and Saturday morning’s 2–0 win over Covenant Day School in Charlotte. In the Covenant Day matchup, the Cavs controlled play in the second half and finally broke through on this deflected goal by Mae Sauer ’29. Quinn Woodard ’29 put the game away with this goal as the Cavs took a huge win over a tough Charlotte school. The Cavs also came close to walking away with a win over Charlotte Latin last week. DA took the lead in the second on a goal by Avery Hilton ’27. After sitting through a weather delay of over an hour, the Cavs held the Hawks scoreless until early in the fourth, when Latin would tie the game and eventually score the game winner with just two minutes left. 

The Cavs have played a gauntlet of a schedule, ranked first in the state (public or private) by MaxPreps. Earlier this season, DA took its first win over Providence Day since 2019 with this incredible Woodard goal on a corner as time expired. Next up is a Homecoming matchup with St. Mary’s on Friday at 3:30 p.m. 

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Girls Tennis

The DA girls tennis team is 6–2 following a hotly contested 5–3 win at East Chapel Hill on Thursday afternoon. The Cavaliers have been hit by injuries and illness and have used their entire roster at big spots throughout the first half of the season. In the win over the Wildcats, Leah Yang ’29 played a huge role with a three-set win at first singles and then a tight 8–6 victory (teaming with Keerthi Nelluri ’27) at first doubles. Julia Clough ’30 and Jael Allen ’29 also had singles wins. The Cavs’ lone losses were 5–4 defeats to 4A foes Providence Day and Cary Academy. The best win of the season was a 5–4 victory over North Raleigh Christian in a match that the Cavs had to rally from a 2–1 deficit after doubles. Yang at two, Taylor Hill ’29 at three, Nena Iroha ’29 at four and Clough at five were the singles winners in this match. After two canceled contests this week, the Cavs will host St. Mary’s on Monday. 

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Boys Soccer

The DA boys head into Friday’s Homecoming showdown with North Raleigh Christian coming off their best offensive performance of the season, a 5–2 win at Trinity Academy last Thursday. Despite a record of 3–5–2, the Cavs are poised to defend their conference title as they have survived a challenging first half of the season that featured games against four teams ranked by HighSchoolOT in either the statewide top 25 or area code top 15. In Thursday’s win over the Tigers, Cole Moore ’27 scored a hat trick and added an assist as the Cavs took down a team that came into the game with just one loss and a No. 3 ranking in 3A. Earlier in the season, the boys traveled to Charlotte and defeated Charlotte Christian, 1–0, and Providence Day, 2–1, notching crucial 4A victories. Moore (four goals) and William Fischer ’29 (two goals) led the team in scoring, while Fergus Moylan ’28 and Aidan Barsoba ’29 each had three assists. Avi Patel ’28 has been a stalwart in goal with 30 saves and a 2.046 Goals Against Average.  

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Girls Golf

It’s the final ride for four-time defending state champ Jenna Kim ’27 as the Yale-bound senior looks to lead the Cavs back to the top of the mountain. Kim is in a familiar place as she leads the 4A state index with a -1.398 rating through five rounds. Newcomer teammate Austin Pehrson ’32 (3.005 rating) ranks sixth in 4A, and the Cavs as a team are currently second behind only Providence Day.  The Cavs placed fifth at last week’s North State High School Challenge at Keith Hills Golf Club. Kim shot a one-over-par 72 to place tied for sixth, while Pehrson’s nine-over 80 was good for 26th. Jenny Gao ’28 (+21) and Lilah Ward ’30 (+29) also competed for the Cavs. In four dual matches so far this season, the Cavs are 4–0 and have victories over North Raleigh Christian, Ravenscroft and St. Mary’s. Following Wednesday’s weather-cancelled contest vs. Cary Academy, the girls won’t play again until their Oct. 6 match vs. St. Mary’s School. 

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Volleyball

The 9-4 DA volleyball team is hitting its stride at the midway point of the season. The Cavs have won eight of their last nine, including five sweeps. In Wednesday’s match vs. 7–2 Ravenscroft, DA mounted a ferocious comeback after losing the first two sets to earn a thrilling 3–2 road victory.

Looking back to last week’s 25–13, 25–11, 25–9 win at Trinity Academy, the Cavs were led by Naomi Adigun ’29 with 11 kills and a strong .688 hitting percentage. Nicole Putilin ’28 added eight kills and three aces, while Hayley Skye ’27 led the team with 31 assists. Just two days earlier, the Cavs had a dominating three-game sweep over Cary Academy as Nora McNealy ’28 led the way with nine kills. Skye and Alice Chen ’29 combined for 11 aces. The Cavs’ Aug. 29 five-set wins over 4A Cannon and Providence Day have the team sitting in the top eight of the 4A rankings. Next up is Friday’s Homecoming battle with St. Mary’s School; catch the action at 5 p.m. in Kirby Gym! 

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Upcoming Events

Friday, Sept. 25 — Homecoming 

Tuesday, Oct. 6 — Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day 

Tuesday, Oct. 13 — Senior Nights for Girls Golf and Field Hockey

Wednesday, Oct. 14 — City/County Cross Country Meet and Senior Night

Thursday, Oct. 15 — Fall Frenzy

• Senior Nights for Tennis, Volleyball and Boys Soccer
• Alumni Field Doubleheader: Field Hockey (5:30 p.m.) and Boys Soccer (7:30 p.m.)