Bethel raises the bar as playoffs come home
KINSTON - Michelle Williams set the bar high for Bethel Christian’s volleyball team because she believed higher expectations would bring a higher level of play.
Her players have responded with 13 victories, an unbeaten district record and a chance to open the playoffs in their own gym.
The Trojans, 13-3 overall and 6-0 in district play, host Woodland Baptist Christian of Winston-Salem at 5 p.m. Friday in the NCCSA playoffs.
“We set goals. Some of it seemed unachievable at the time,” Williams said. “But we laid out a plan.”
The progress connects two chapters of Williams’ coaching career. She led Bethel to a 16-5 finish in 2014 and a 14-7 season in 2015 before stepping away while her sons played football. She returned last season, guiding the Trojans to a 10-9 record.
Now, in the second season of her return, Bethel has its most victories since that 2015 team. A win Friday would give the Trojans 14, matching that total and tying their highest win total since 2014, according to the available MaxPreps records.
The recent climb has been steady: three wins in 2023, eight in 2024, 10 last season and 13 entering this postseason. Williams credits the players’ offseason work, a summer camp and their commitment to the expectations established before the season.
“That definitely is a confidence booster, just knowing that we’re going to play in front of our home crowd in our own gym,” Williams said. “We don’t have to travel. So they’ve worked hard to get to this point to where we can host.”
The results show how consistently the Trojans have executed. Eleven of their 13 victories have been sweeps. They won all 18 sets in their six district matches and finished the regular season with a 40-12 advantage in sets overall.
Four seniors help set the standard: Emma Ingram, Suzanne Rouse, Eva Griffin and Lillie Turner.
Ingram leads Bethel’s reported attack with 151 kills and a .258 hitting percentage, along with 116 digs and 37 aces. Rouse has 125 digs and 38 aces, Griffin has contributed 115 digs, and Turner has recorded 86 assists.
Williams said their value goes beyond those totals.
“They do some things that are not even on the stat books,” she said. “It’s just their leadership.”
Bethel also gets substantial production from its younger players. Junior Mikayla Cash has 113 kills, 35 aces and 13 blocks. Sophomore Madison Jackson has added 95 kills with a .226 hitting percentage, while sophomore Kensie Lee has supplied 331 assists.
Ingram, Cash and Jackson account for 359 of Bethel’s 464 reported kills, about 77% of its attack. The Trojans have also recorded 197 aces and 644 digs across 52 sets.
Williams sees a connection between the team’s improved passing, its setting and the opportunities available to its hitters. But when asked what best defines the group, she started with something else.
“I think this year we can hang our hat on unity,” Williams said.
The team’s motto is “Own it.” Players are expected to acknowledge mistakes, move past them and remain accountable to one another.
Williams said she began recognizing the potential of the group about two weeks into the season. The commitment extended throughout the 14-player roster, including players who were not in the starting lineup.
“They’re putting their teammates ahead of themselves,” she said. “And when you start seeing that as a coach, that’s something special.”
Bethel has shown it can respond when a match becomes difficult. Against Jacksonville Christian on Sept. 3, the Trojans lost the opening two sets before winning the next three, 26-24, 25-10 and 15-8. Lee finished with 44 assists.
More recently, Bethel answered an Oct. 2 loss to Hilltop Christian with consecutive sweeps of Living Water Christian, Washington Montessori and Fayetteville Street Christian.
Cash finished the regular season with nine kills and nine aces against Fayetteville Street. Lee added 18 assists and six aces as Bethel won 25-6, 25-8, 25-16.
Friday brings a Woodland team that is 6-15 overall and 2-10 on the road. The Eagles have lost their last four matches in straight sets, but their schedule supplies some context: MaxPreps’ computer ratings give Woodland the tougher schedule, even while ranking Bethel substantially higher. Those rankings are not playoff seeds.
The common-opponent results favor the Trojans. Bethel swept Fellowship Baptist Academy and Raleigh Christian Academy twice apiece, winning all 12 sets across those four matches. Woodland lost to Fellowship in four sets and Raleigh in three.
Woodland has three seniors on its 11-player roster: Reagan Sames, Alidia McGee and Chloe Brantley. Its individual statistics are only partially reported, limiting a reliable season-long player comparison.
For Williams, the focus is on the opponent in front of her team rather than where a postseason run might eventually lead.
“Play every game. Give everything that you have. Leave it on the court, and then you will not regret anything. Win or lose,” Williams said.
“Don’t look ahead.”