The reward for North Stanly’s volleyball team for winning the Yadkin Valley Conference tournament was a guaranteed bid in the state playoffs.

North received a No. 25 seed leading to a long four-hour trip Saturday to eighth-seeded Highlands where the Comets won in straight sets.

Scores of the match were 25-19, 25-17 and 27-25 in favor of the Comets (15-12).

“The trip was long and it would have been nice to have been in our own home gym,” North head coach Kadie Morgan said.

“However, whether we are home or away, my team makes a statement anywhere. We show up with the power and ability to defeat any team. That’s what we did (tonight).”

Taegan Lowder had a strong night on the attack for the Comets. The junior outside hitter led North with 16 kills out of 31 attempts for a 51.6 hitting percentage.

“Taegan played very aggressively. She definitely was a leader,” Morgan said.

Nicole Lowder added eight kills while Merris Tablert had six kills.

Payton Landis had 17 assists with one ballhandling error while Alex Childress added 12 assists.

North Stanly travels to No. 9 Murphy (23-3). The Bulldogs, ranked fifth in the last regular-season poll by MaxPreps, received a forfeit win from No. 24 Union Academy.

“We didn’t drop a set (tonight) and we plan to do the same thing again Tuesday. We are excited to be in the playoffs and will continue to take it game by game. We are focused and determined,” Morgan said.

Sports Editor Charles Curcio can be reached at charles.curcio@stanlynewspress.com, 704-983-1361 or via Twitter (@charles_curcio).