Gold ribbons were tied into the hair of every Lake Norman Charter volleyball player on September 15 as the Knights hosted Community School of Davidson for Go Gold for Cancer night in Huntersville, a pregame ceremony that honored people in the program's extended family who have battled the disease. Among those being celebrated: a 15-year-old freshman who spent three years fighting childhood leukemia and an assistant coach who is fighting cancer again right now.
Zoe Sinclair, an assistant coach for the reigning NCHSAA Class 4A state champions, is currently battling cancer for a second time, according to the Charlotte Observer. Freshman Avery Caruso, who was diagnosed with leukemia at age 9 and underwent three years of chemotherapy, has now been cancer-free for three years, the newspaper reported. Caruso, now 15 and carrying a 4.5 GPA, still deals with memory problems connected to her treatment, per the same account.
A Freshman's Long Road Back to the Court
Caruso did not start playing volleyball until after she finished cancer treatment, and coach Bethany Kiley said she was not guaranteed a roster spot when she arrived, the Observer reported. She has since earned a role in the Knights' back row. Her older sister, Riley Caruso, who began playing volleyball in middle school and is committed to Army volleyball, said the team thrives under pressure, according to the report.
Avery Caruso credited support from her family and her faith in God for getting her through treatment, and said she fell in love with volleyball afterward, per the Observer's reporting. Kiley said the team's shared experience with cancer, through players and coaches alike, has made the group closer and more determined. Senior London Stewart said that cohesiveness carries directly into the team's winning mentality, the newspaper noted.
A Dominant Night on the Court
The Go Gold match itself was no contest. Lake Norman Charter swept Community School of Davidson 3-0, with Stewart posting 15 kills and Julia Pacitto adding 12. Riley Caruso and Avery Caruso each contributed 8 assists and 6 digs, while libero Danielle Lewis, who is committed to Missouri volleyball, tallied 2 aces and 15 digs, according to the Observer.
The win carried extra weight given the opponent: Community School of Davidson entered the match as the reigning NCHSAA Class 2A state volleyball champion, having claimed that title on November 1, 2025, at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, according to NCHSAA and NCVBCA records. Beating a fellow reigning champion, even one from a different classification, underscored the level of competition the Knights have been chasing down all season.
Chasing a Second Straight Title
Lake Norman Charter enters the stretch run of the season at 19-1, having shut out 17 opponents and dropped just 5 of 57 sets played, per the Observer's reporting. The Knights carried a state-best 43-match winning streak into a September 24 showdown with Marvin Ridge, the reigning Class 7A state champion, which snapped that streak with a 3-0 win, according to HighSchoolOT. Stewart had 22 kills in that loss, and Marvin Ridge is ranked No. 3 overall in North Carolina, per the Observer.
Despite the loss, MaxPreps still ranked Lake Norman Charter No. 1 overall among North Carolina girls volleyball teams as of late September, with an 18-1 record and a 31.52 strength rating in the outlet's proprietary formula. The Knights had four regular-season matches remaining as they aim to repeat as state champion in their classification, the Observer reported.
The Classification Shakeup Behind the Matchups
Marvin Ridge's presence in Class 7A while Lake Norman Charter competes in Class 4A traces back to a historic overhaul. Starting with the 2025-26 academic year, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association expanded from four classifications to eight for the first time in its 112-year history, according to NC Football News. The realignment doubled the number of statewide postseason championship brackets, setting up the kind of cross-classification, champion-versus-champion matchups the Knights have now faced twice this fall.
Building on a Historic Championship Run
Lake Norman Charter's current title defense stems from a comeback that still stands as the defining moment in program history. In the 2025 Class 4A state final at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, the Knights overcame a 5-0 deficit in the decisive fifth set against Uwharrie Charter, scoring 15 of the final 19 points to win 3-2, according to HighSchoolOT. Stewart was named the match's Most Valuable Player, and the North Carolina Volleyball Coaches Association recognized Kiley as head coach of that championship team following the program's undefeated late-season run.
Before that 2025 playoff run, Lake Norman Charter had never advanced beyond the third round of the state playoffs, per HighSchoolOT. The tuition-free, K-12 charter school in Huntersville, which opened its high school campus in 2007 and competes in the Catawba Shores Athletic Conference, has since built on that breakthrough. In July, Lake Norman Publications reported that Lake Norman Charter won the 2025-26 NCHSAA Class 4A Wells Fargo Cup, honoring the top overall high school athletic program in its classification, after previously winning the 3A version of the award the prior school year.
The 2026 NCHSAA volleyball regional playoffs are set to begin October 27, with the state finals scheduled for October 30-31. For a program that once couldn't get past the third round and now plays through personal battles with cancer as motivation, the coming weeks offer a chance to defend the title that changed everything.
