Golden Falcons rebound, wipe out Vikings

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on September 16, 2005 2:10 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock's volleyball team bounced back from Tuesday's disappointing three-set loss at Wilson Beddingfield in its Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference opener with a three-set win at home over Kinston.

The Golden Falcons proved especially strong in sets one and three in a 25-11, 25-18, 25-10 sweep of the Vikings. The win improves Aycock (5-2 overall) to 1-1 in ECC play, while Kinston (0-3 overall) dropped its league opener.

"It's good to get one under your belt after that loss," Aycock coach Davis Harris said. "They were disappointed (after the loss to Beddingfield). They know that was not the way we normally play. They also know they can not be intimidated by anybody."

The Falcons' Laura Thigpen turned in a stout effort from the service line, serving up nine aces and serving on 25 points overall. Thigpen served on 11-straight points with three aces in the first set to help push Aycock out to a 12-3 lead. Kinston, plagued by unforced errors and inability to go on the attack, never sent a server to the line for more than three serves in a row as the Falcons controlled set one.

"She's (Thigpen) our top server. We need to get points when she's up there, and we did today," Harris said.

The second game saw the Vikings trail all the way through, but Kinston managed to trim a 17-9 deficit down to 20-17 after an ace by Kara Pelletier -- prompting Harris to call a time-out. From there, Aycock scored five of the next six points to eventually close out the second set on an ace by Thigpen.

"We made a lot of unforced errors in game two, which made the score closer. We can't do that in big matches," Harris said. "Better teams are going to take advantage, and that could end up costing us."

The Golden Falcons never allowed Kinston to hang around the third and final set. Angela Lane served on five-straight with Kandace Burroughs providing a kill and a block to push Aycock out to a 5-0 lead. Thigpen took serve with the score 6-2, then served on seven in a row as the Falcon advantage surged to 13-2. The Vikings' front line never found an answer for the hitting of Burroughs and Jazzmine Lee up front.

Aycock finished especially strong in the third with the final margin of 25-10 proving to be its largest lead.

Burroughs finished with three kills, two blocks and one ace in the third set alone. Lee contributed nine kills on the match with two in the third game. Setter Julia Lancaster added a consistent game and helped Aycock stay on the attack.

"We were in more of an attack mode. When we pass, we can attack, but it starts with the pass," Harris said. "Kandace, Shelly Lancaster and Jazzmine are steady up there. They turned it on in game three."

Both teams return to ECC action on Tuesday. Aycock travels to conference newcomer Wilson Hunt, while Kinston visits Southern Wayne.