Hoggard volleyball is in a familiar position.
With only a handful of games left before the 2026 North Carolina high school volleyball state playoffs, the Vikings once again lead Wilmington competition, closing in on a third conference title in four years.
The destination may look familiar. The way Hoggard has gotten there hasn't.
Hoggard (19-2, 9-0 Carolina Coast) is a top-10 team in the state according to MaxPreps and is positioned to enter the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the NCHSAA's 8A classification.
The Vikings captured a conference title last fall, toppling every Wilmington-area opponent along the way. This season, however, their rate of dominance has only increased.
chase for another title
Six of Hoggard's nine conference victories have come in straight sets, with only one match reaching a fifth.
Perhaps the clearest sign of the Vikings' progression came Tuesday, Oct. 6. Hoggard swept Topsail in three sets, its first sweep of the Pirates since 2023.
"It's really about consistency," Hoggard senior Norah Davis said. "All around, we always have someone who's coming on and ready to play."
Davis, the 2025 StarNews All-Area Volleyball Player of the Year, has been consistently unstoppable, hitting .382 with 359 kills over 66 sets this fall.
But the Vikings leader isn't the only star leading the way.
Hoggard returned much of its core leadership from a season ago, including setter and middle hitter Elli Keene, giving the Vikings a combination of experience and depth that has made finding weaknesses difficult.
"Our roster is so deep that anyone on our bench can come on and play," Keene said. "We're ready to win and we're ready to fight our hardest."
Hoggard dominating in early October is nothing new. What feels different for the Vikings is the mentality they've carried through a 16-game winning streak.
"We are locked in right now," Hoggard coach Emily Coleman said. "Mentally, I think we're in a really strong position."
That could matter most once the postseason begins.
Hoggard entered the 2025 playoffs with a 24-3 record before falling to Green Hope in the third round. Despite consistently ranking among the Wilmington area's best programs, the Vikings haven't advanced beyond the third round since 2019.
With just 24 teams making the 8A state playoffs, getting beyond that barrier this fall would mean a trip to the state semifinals, a stage Hoggard last reached in 2011.
But even with the postseason looming, and with an opportunity for Hoggard's deepest playoff run in years drawing closer, the Vikings are focused on just one thing.
"Themselves," Coleman said of her squad's biggest challenge this postseason. "If they do their jobs, they stay together as a team, we're going to be hard to beat."
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Hoggard volleyball chasing more amid another dominant regular season
