CARY - Philip Goodloe's physics students at Cary High may not recognize their teacher's new look, but the school's girls volleyball players can verify the coach's identity.

The Imps are, after all, the reason Cary girls volleyball coach Philip Goodloe will be forced to show up at school with a new hairstyle – a Mohawk.

"There's no backing out on this – he's getting a Mohawk,” said senior Erin Harwood. “We wanted him to shave his head.”

Goodloe used the Mohawk as motivation during a fourth-set timeout as his team rallied back from an 0-2 deficit to defeat Panther Creek 3-2 in a Tri-Nine Conference match Thursday night at the Catamounts' gym.

"It used to be, 'If you win, we'll go to Bojangles,' ” Goodloe said with a laugh.

Panther Creek won the first two games 25-18 and 25-16 and was one point from a sweep with a 24-22 lead in Game 3 when Cary scored four unanswered points to extend the match with a 26-24 win. That's a close shave.

Then, after a quick 7-1 lead in the fourth game, Cary won the final two games 25-17 and 15-13.

Cary improved to 8-2 overall and 4-2 in conference, while Panther Creek is now 3-5 overall and 3-4 in league play.

Goodloe said other than state-power Apex, his teams have never been swept in a conference match. But they have come back before from a 0-2 deficit – as recently Aug. 30 to beat Middle Creek.

"We knew we had to come back the same as we did against Middle Creek,” Harwood said. “We just weren't getting our defense right. We just had to take it one point at a time. We fed off our fans. They had so much energy and we're so glad they came out to Panther Creek.”

Harwood, who compensates for her 5-foot-7 height with a strong swing and superb timing, finished the match with 21 kills, including three in the decisive fifth game.

"After the first two games, I told her to swing out – 'Swing as hard as you can,' ” Goodloe said. “She knows if she uses a full swing, very few people in this conference can deal with her. If she was 6 foot, she would be unbelievable. But even at 5-7, she's one of the smartest players. She can swing hard, hard, hard and then drop one in.”

Panther Creek played one of its best matches despite the loss, and coach Bonnie O'Connor says her team will continue to improve.

"I still think this team will do a lot of good things this year,” she said. “I know good they are, but they don't believe in themselves yet when things are tough.”

Emily Hendricks led Panther Creek with 21 kills. The defense of Angela Wu, who was continually digging balls on cross-court kill attempts, and the Catamounts' serving contributed to the fast start. With the score 10-10 in Game 1, Panther Creek scored 10 unanswered points in a stretch that included four kills by Hendricks.

"We were too inconsistent, but we played hard,” O'Connor said. “We stopped swinging at the ball and let them back in the game. My team is good, but it just wasn't our night.”