RALEIGH - Even though the hundreds of tailgaters in the Cardinal Gibbons parking lot were preparing for the college football game across the street at Carter-Finley Stadium, inside the school was a high-level athletic contest in its own right.

Three powerful N.C. volleyball programs - Greenville Rose, Apex and Cardinal Gibbons - convened Saturday afternoon with hopes of getting a double-shot of tough, late-season tests from nonconference foes.

Cardinal Gibbons, who went 2-0 against the two visiting schools and dispatched both by 3-0 scores. But the greater goal, coaches said, was to find things to work on as the regular season winds down.

"Despite the loss, there were a lot of good things that came out of today," said Apex coach Nikki O'Connell, whose team went 1-1 against the two. "Gibbons has two very solid (middle blockers), and we haven't seen a lot of that."

Despite being the only 3A team among the three, Gibbons had little trouble against either 4A school.

The nationally-ranked Crusaders are loaded this year, as five of their six starters have already committed to play Division I college volleyball. Stanford recruit Madison Bugg, considered one of the nation's best high school volleyball players, had 17 kills in the quick dispatching of Apex.

"Gibbons' level of play is significantly higher than what we've played in 4A. There's no comparison," O'Connell said. "Taking a set off of them would've been nice."

Cardinal Gibbons defeated Apex 25-12, 25-21 and 25-7. The Cougars are now 16-3 on the season.

Gibbons (12-3) has yet to drop a set in N.C. competition.

Coach Logan Barber said his team's experience in the Archbishop Mitty Tournament in California earlier this year, where it went 1-3 against some of the country's best high school teams, has motivated the Crusaders.

"That's sort of what's led us to where we are right now," Barber said. "It's really helped us focus in on... finding a way to make our opponents look as bad as we can and making us look better."

The Carolina 6 Conference does not have a conference tournament, so the Crusaders will get ready for the playoffs after an Oct. 18 game at Chapel Hill High. Going against Rose and Apex - winners of the last two 4A state championships - will only help Gibbons, Barber said.

"Win or lose, this was going to be great for us because we were really going to force ourselves to do some things we don't always have to do in some of our matches," Barber said.

But after such a strong performance against both 4A powers, it may seem as though Gibbons has very little to improve. But Barber said his players strive for perfection.

"There may some things scheme-wise that we may not do perfectly every time, but every kid is definitely bringing a lot to the table," he said. "The kids are really pushing themselves and each other to be as good as they can be."