Volleyball
With a 23-4 record, the Green Hope women’s volleyball team has once again dominated this season, making it to the final four in playoffs, coming second in the Southwest Wake 4A conference. Belle Partick (‘23) led the team with 424 kills this season, being ranked fifteenth in the state of North Carolina. While they are losing five seniors, the juniors and sophomores of the team are on track to keep a successful season next year. The Falcons started strong with a 3-0 sweep against Overhills on Oct. 21 and continued this winning streak for four more games. They won all of these games 3-0 leading them to the final four where they played Middle Creek. In the conference season, Green Hope won once and lost once against Middle Creek. During the playoff game, Middle Creek got the lead by winning the first set. However, Green Hope won the set after tying the score 1-1. Unfortunately, the Falcons lost the next two sets ending the game with a Middle Creek victory of 3-1. They ended their season by coming in second place in the conference making it all the way to the final fours in playoffs.
As the regular season came to a close, many seniors reminisced on what senior night meant to them. Four time varsity player Belle Patrick described the night as memorable because her dad and sister surprised her at the game with flowers. She is committed to Virginia Tech as an outside hitter and reflected back on how Green Hope aided her in her volleyball career. She said, “Green Hope has helped me to continue to love the game of volleyball.” Overall, she stated that she will miss her best friends and game days the most. Patrick appreciates the time she got to better herself and her skills on the Green Hope volleyball team.
Maria Munoz Gonzalez has been on varsity for two years and plays as a middle hitter and blocker. She does not plan to play volleyball in college and because of this, senior night was emotional for her. She said, “Senior night is sad because it really reminds you how fast time is going, and pushes you to realize how soon graduation is.” When Munoz Gonzalez thought back to the season, she said she will miss the support of her friends and family during games most because the celebrations witht them after the games made her senior season memorable. She has a deep respect for the Green Hope volleyball program and will continue to think fondly of the team.
Men’s soccer
Men’s soccer had an up-and-down season finishing second in the conference with a 10-4 record and a 14-8 record overall. However, in the first round of state playoffs, the Falcons fell to Apex Friendship with a score of 3-0. Though the team had a successful regular season, after the early exit from play-offs the team was disappointed. Junior defender Tate Jackson said, “Two years ago on [junior varsity], this same team was undefeated, so our first-round exit didn’t meet our expectations.” Though the team didn’t advance in the state playoffs, they had several great performances during the season. Jacob Colberg (‘25) led the team in goals with 12, being the second most in the conference. Andrew Zagacki (‘25) added nine goals and Rasmus Petersen (‘24) scored eight goals. Defensive leaders were Alejandro Perdomo (‘24) who led the team with 22 steals and Andrew Zagacki with 17 steals.
On Oct. 11, the men’s soccer team held their senior night against Panther Creek. With all eight seniors in the starting lineup, the Falcons started fast. Four minutes in, Green Hope jumped ahead on a goal by senior Rasmus Peterson with an assist from Jacob Colberg (‘24). Despite controlling possession for most of the first half, the Falcons were unable to net another goal. The second half started with Green Hope leading 1-0, but Panther Creek answered quickly. One minute in, the Catamounts tied the score at 1-1, and then Panther Creek added two more goals, one with 20 minutes remaining and another with 13 minutes remaining. The Falcons were unable to net another goal, resulting in the final score being a 3-1 loss for the Falcons.
Women’s tennis
The fifteen-player roster for the Green Hope women’s tennis team started the season winning their first two matches. With many new underclassman additions, the group has tremendous potential to strive for in the future, finishing their season with an overall record of 11-7 non-conference and 9-5 in the conference, winning five out of the eight home matches on the Cary Tennis courts and six out of ten games won during away matches. On Oct.18, the team played Hoggard High School and brought home the win with a score of 5-2. The last game of the season was against Panther Creek on Oct. 23. The team fell short with a score of 5-4, but are hopeful for the upcoming seasons.
The team’s only senior is captain Vibha Kestur, who has been a part of the team for the past four years. Kestur began her career in 2020 as a freshman, dominating the court and winning all of her matches. During Kestur’s junior year at Green Hope, she brought home the state championship title for doubles with her former teammate, Olivia Corcoran (‘24). Kestur finished her final season of high school tennis with 26 wins and only 5 losses, showing tremendous skill and leadership on the court. Kestur hopes to continue her passion for tennis, playing club tennis to remain active throughout her collegiate life.
Cross country
This year, the cross country team heavily dropped times as many runners lowered their personal record by over a minute since the start of the season. The boys team had a strong season, placing second in the boys championship at the SWAC Conference Meet and winning the junior varsity race. They also won the junior varsity races for the Providence Invitational, Friday Night Lights and Great American meets, along with a handful of wins earned during weekday meets. Similarly, the girls team also had a strong season for growth—winning the Athens Drive, Cary, Broughton, Green Hope Quad meets; with many scoring personal bests in nearly every race.
At the team’s senior night, the SWAC Conference Meet, 19 seniors raced for Green Hope. Both the boys and the girls had strong performances, with many runners scoring low in their races. Sebastian Percival-Shim (‘24) was one of the runners in the boys championship. When asked how he felt during the race, Percival-Shim said, “I was really ready to hurt and fight for all the spots that I could in order to give the team a chance to win. I finally felt fit and so I just went out quick and hammered the last couple miles to pick off as many people as I could.” Percival-Shim placed 13th in the race and scored a personal record for the first time since his junior year, earning All-Conference for the first time.
Lily Slaughter (‘24) competed in the girls championship for Green Hope. Slaughter’s goal coming into the season was to break the 22 minute barrier and beat her sophomore time. “Once I did that I was focused on running 21:42 because that puts my average pace under seven minutes,” Slaughter said. She finished the season with a personal best of 21:42.64 at regionals. Both runners want to keep running in the future, with Percival-Shim planning on running Division I in college and Slaughter planning to join a running club.
Football
The Green Hope football team ended their season with 2055 rushing yards over 405 carries, bringing them to an average of 5.1 yards per carry. They also had 481 receiving yards over 40 receptions with a completion percentage of 39.6%, which brings their average yards per catch to 12. Green Hope had 6 receiving touchdowns and 20 rushing touchdowns this season. The team ended the season with a total of 189 points averaging 18.9 points per game as well as a 20% win percentage finishing 2-8 and seventh in their conference. Their final three games were at Holly Springs which ended in a devastating 52-0 defeat, at home against Green Level which resulted in an exciting 21-7 win, and a senior night game against Apex to finish the season with a 39-12 loss.
One of the senior captains of the football team, Charlie Deeb (‘24), talked about his time with the school. When asked about his senior night experience, he says, “It’s kind of sad, but at the same time it is satisfying to get recognition for all the hard work we have put in over the years.” Deeb’s time as a Falcon is coming to an end, but he is optimistic about what is to come in his athletic, active future.
Women’s golf
This year, the women’s golf team made it to the NCHSAA State Championship hosted at Pinehurst. The qualifiers Jocelyn Lester (‘25), Samantha Chu (‘25), and Marlo Arndts (‘27), ending their season playing 36 holes, placing themselves at 45th and tying 54th individually. As a team, they placed 15th overall at states. The three athletes were the last to qualify for states at the 4A Central Regionals competition. Leading up to regionals, freshman Ariana Estrela dropped her score low enough to join Lester, Chu and Arndts at the tournament as well, but couldn’t make the cut for states. Either way, this has been a strong postseason for the girls, and an impressive feat for the golf team’s freshmen.
The girls’ 9-hole stroke average from this season are:
Mary Buckner (‘24) –52
Jocelyn Lester (‘25) –45
Samantha Chu (‘25) –42
Renee McClernon (‘25) –54
Ariana Estrela (‘27) –51
Seerit Gill (‘27) –54
Marlo Arndts (‘27) –42
Reeling back to the season, Green Hope placed fifth in the SWAC Conference at Keith Hills, taking senior Mary Buckner to her last 18-hole round. After the season’s Senior Night, Buckner expresses to her team, “Thank you all for making me feel so welcomed. I truly enjoyed this season.” The team consistently placed fourth in SWAC matches, however as the season moved forward, the girls didn’t progress further. Each match had close placing as many teams had a 1-2 stroke difference in placements.
