Local sports digest

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 19, 2005 2:16 PM

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Steed dishes out three assists in WCDS victory

Sophomore Sam Steed tallied one goal and recorded three assists in Wayne Country Day's 4-0 conquest of Ahoskie Ridgecroft in their Classes 1-A/2-A Coastal Plains Independent Conference match Tuesday afternoon.

It was the regular-season finale for both teams.

Senior Will Futrelle opened the scoring in the 25th minute off an assist from Steed. David Wilson headed in a goal off Steed's corner kick in the 32nd minute to give the Chargers a 2-0 lead at halftime.

Hyo Won Ha, one of three WCDS seniors, collected a goal off Steed's third assist in the 64th minute. Steed finished off the Rams with an unassisted goal in the 78th minute.

Keeper Ryan Ford notched 12 saves in goal en route to his fifth shutout of the season and third against CPIC opposition. The Charger defense has held an opponent scoreless for 120 consecutive minutes.

"The defense played so good," said WCDS coach Michael Taylor. "They're really stepping up right now."

Wayne Country Day (12-5-1, 5-4-1) will learn its playoff fate today. The Chargers are expected to receive a top-eight seed, but could possibly draw an opening-round bye.

Ignot, Marshall

pace Conquerors

Senior co-captains Freddy Ignot and Jonathan McNeese combined for six goals in Faith Christian's 8-1 victory over Bethel Christian of Kinston on Tuesday afternoon.

Ignot collected a natural hat trick (three consecutive goals) in the opening half. McNeese assisted on the third goal as the Conquerors gained a 3-0 lead by halftime.

Stephen Marshal continued the scoring with a goal off Aaron Sladick's assist in the second half. Ignot, Sladick and McNeese combined to tally the final four goals. McNeese converted a penalty kick during that stretch.

Senior keeper Jonathan Zeigler recorded six saves.

Faith Christian (7-4) travels to Falls Road of Rocky Mount for an N.C. Christian Schools Association 2-A playoff game.

JV soccer

Chargers pick

up CPIC victory

Tanner Pate tallied the game's lone goal in Wayne Country Day's season-ending 1-0 victory over Coastal Plains Independent 1-A/2-A opponent Ahoskie Ridgecroft.

Keeper Bryce Allen recorded eight saves in goal.

The Chargers (3-8-1) finished with a 2-7-1 worksheet in CPIC play.

Gators drop

C/T-RC 1-A match

KENLY -- Mario Velasquez tallied Spring Creek's lone goal in a 11-1 loss at Carolina/Tar-Roanoke 1-A Conference leader North Johnston on Monday evening.

The Gators (4-4-1, 3-3 C/T-RC) are the guests of Rosewood today. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Branch Pope Field.

Volleyball

Spring Creek

upends N. Duplin

CALYPSO -- Sixth-seeded Spring Creek eliminated North Duplin 27-25, 25-6, 21-25, 25-17 in opening-round play of the Carolina 1-A Conference tournament.

The Gators (11-7) face second-seeded Princeton at Rosewood today. Match time is 4:30 p.m. North Johnston and the top-seeded Eagles (20-0) square off in the other semifinal. The title match is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday.

Tomeka Pride and Courtney Oxendine provided nine and seven kills, respectively, for Spring Creek. Brittani Billups and Lorenda Brogden recorded six kills each.

Pride added five blocks, while Brogden and Billups each had three.

Margo Sauter dished out 28 assists.

North Duplin senior middle hitter Sierra Ward notched a triple-double -- 13 kills, 11 digs, 10 blocks -- in her final game for the Rebels. Kayla Myers and Lauren Blackmore combined for three kills.

Casey Pate and Julie Ivey led the defense with seven and five digs, respectively.

"We did a lot of things this year that some people didn't think we'd be able to do," said North Duplin coach Heather Best, whose team finished 7-8 overall. "I am very proud of these young women, all the hard work they put in and how they matured and improved as a team.

"We had a good season and I hate that it is over, but we now think of the positives and how well we did do this year."

Hawks alive

in EPC tourney

SNOW HILL -- North Lenoir opened defense of its Eastern Plains 2-A Conference tournament championship with a 25-12, 25-15, 25-19 victory over Tarboro High at Greene Central.

Outside hitter Brittany Sanders emerged the Hawks' offensive leader with seven kills.

Catelyn Howard and Connor Jordan were a combined 25-for-26 on serve.

North Lenoir (7-14) faces top-seeded Farmville Central in the semifinals on Thursday. Match time is 4:30 p.m. at Farmville.

Golf

Archer, Webber

pace Spring Creek

Spring Creek concluded regular-season play unbeaten at 9-0 with a 100-122 victory over North Johnston on Tuesday afternoon.

Janelle Archer led the Gators with a medalist-winning, nine-hole round of 48. Teammate Paula Webber provided a 52.

Amber Braddy led the Panthers with a 59.

Both teams return to action next Tuesday in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A/2-A/3-A Eastern Regional at Goldsboro Municipal Golf Course.

Tennis

Greene Central

dumps Bulldogs

SNOW HILL -- Greene Central began defense its eastern regional dual-team title with a 7-2 victory over Durham School of the Arts at the Snow Hill Tennis Complex on Tuesday afternoon.

The Rams swept the doubles en route to their 21st win of the season. The combinations of Meredith Rouse-Brittany Horton, Christi Murphy-Ashley Harrell and Michelle Jernigan-Elizabeth Cooper each cruised to an easy win in pro-set (10 games) play.

Rouse-Horton remained unbeaten in 18 outings.

"We didn't play with much emotion in singles, but all three doubles teams played well under pressure," said Greene Central coach Donald Clark. "I was very pleased with the play of Elizabeth and Michelle. They jumped out to a big lead in doubles and took the pressure off of our other two teams.

"Elizabeth and Michelle both played very solid, fundamental doubles throughout the match."

Murphy, Harrell, Jernigan and Horton each claimed a straight-set victory in singles. Jernigan needed a second-set tiebreaker to turn back the Bulldogs' Bonnie Jirtle 6-1, 7-6 (4).

Jernigan leads the Rams with 21 singles wins.

"I hope being pushed into doubles today was a wake-up call for my team," said Clark. "We are certainly going to have to play much better than we did today to continue to be successful in the state playoffs."

Greene Central (21-1) entertains either Southern Vance or Reidsville next Tuesday afternoon.

2005 N.C. High School

Athletic Association Class 2-A

Dual-Team Playoffs

(at Snow Hill Tennis Complex)

Greene Central 7

Durham School of Arts 2

Singles -- No. 1 Rukshonna Usmanova (DSA) d. Meredith Rouse 3-6, 6-4, 7-3; No. 2 Christi Murphy (GC) d. Shannon Brown 6-1, 6-1; No. 3 Ashley Harrell (GC) d. Porsche Pugh 6-2, 6-1; No. 4 Michelle Jernigan (GC) d. Bonnie Jirtle 6-1, 7-6 (4); No. 5 Brittany Horton (GC) d. Martha Routh 6-0, 6-0; No. 6 Suzanne Crabtree (DSA) d. Elizabeth Cooper 6-4, 1-6, 10-4.

Doubles -- No. 1 Rouse-Horton (GC) d. Usmanova-Jirtle 10-4; No. 2 Murphy-Harrell (GC) d. Brown-Routh 10-3; No. 3 Jernigan-Cooper (GC) d. Pugh-Emily Dixon 10-0.

Middle schools

Norwayne volleyball d. Grantham 25-12, 25-9, 25-17 -- Victoria Benton, Nicole Kessler, Megan Wunders and Macey Peters emerged the service leaders for Norwayne. The Cobras (11-0) entertain Greenwood on Thursday.

Eastern Wayne soccer 8, Mount Olive 0 -- Leslie Cox recorded a hat trick (three goals) and one assist. Eric Suncin provided two goals. Jose Ponce (three assists), Richard Johnson and Nick Baker each had one goal. Eastern Wayne (8-0-1) entertains Spring Creek next Monday, while Mount Olive (3-5-1) plays Spring Creek on Thursday.