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The Ellis volleyball team got a big lift from the Makayla Vanmeter/Allie Miller tandem and upset North Davie in three sets on Sept. 20 at North.

While Ellis stopped a three-match losing streak and avenged a loss from Aug. 31, the Wildcats dropped their second in a row.

Ellis coach Beth Hall-Love called it a “huge upset.”

North was in the driver’s seat after taking the first set 25-13. That’s when Hall-Love made crucial adjustments.

“The first set we got killed,” she said. “I made a change after the first set to get my stronger back row players facing North’s dominant servers. I made sure to have Makayla and Allie in the back. I also told my girls that we had to make some attacks/hits and stop just passing on the third ball.”

Serving from Carly Crouch, Vanmeter and Jaydyn Davis helped Ellis win the second set 25-20. The third set was all Ellis as Davis and Quinn Cornatzer led the serving.

Ellis only used six players, the other being Avery Mallory.

It was a frustrating loss for the Wildcats, who were missing Callie Jenkins again as well as McKensie Burrows.

“Not only was I missing Callie, my starting middle hitter, McKensie was out sick,” North coach Trish King said. “I had to play girls out of position and we lost our chemistry. We have gone three matches without my starting outside hitter.”

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The Jaguars climbed to .500 (4-4) with a two-set win over visiting Canterbury on Sept. 21. Crouch, Mallory and Vanmeter were the leading servers in a 25-16 first set, and Crouch, Miller and Mallory scored the most serving points in the second set, which was 25-8.

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The Wildcats were finally back to full strength against visiting Canterbury on Sept. 23, and the result was a 2-0 win that pushed North’s record to 6-3.

“I had all members of my team and everyone back to their original position for the first time in two weeks,” King said. “I finally had Callie and McKensie back in my lineup, and it drastically improved the dynamics of the team.”

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Look at what South Davie has accomplished since an 0-2 start. The Tigers have won six of seven, including road wins over Summit and North Carolina Leadership Academy last week.

At Summit, the Tigers got payback for an Aug. 30 defeat. At NCLA, they pulled it out in three sets.

South’s four-match winning streak has included wins over Ellis and Canterbury.