Rebels prevail in first set, but drop conference match

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 1, 2008 1:11 PM

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CALYPSO -- Pass the ball.

It may sound simple and even fundamental, but in volleyball it means everything. Take away passing and you've taken away a shot at winning.

North Duplin captured game one from Class 1-A Carolina Conference foe Princeton, but looked like a completely different team in a 25-22, 19-25, 15-25, 12-25 loss on Tuesday.

In the final three games, North Duplin (5-6 overall, 3-4 Carolina 1-A) struggled to pass, its communication was off and at critical moments its serving disappeared.

"I don't know what we did exactly wrong except our passing was off," said Rebels head coach Heather Best. "We quit moving our feet and we quit squaring up. Our passes were all over the place. When the passing is off it throws everything else off."

North Duplin rallied from a 7-1 deficit in game one. A pair of service aces, a kill from Sam Cates and a kill from Katie Swanzey down the stretch put the Bulldogs away.

Princeton (9-3, 3-2) regrouped and benefited from numerous North Duplin errors in game two. Ashley Braswell's kill and Danielle Mitchell's ace gave the Bulldogs a 15-8 lead. Hannah Brock added two kills as Princeton's advantage grew to as much as 24-14.

"We started working together and teamwork made a difference," said Bulldogs head coach Trudi Rast. "They were stepping in, getting the balls up and their serves were much better."

Two aces from Braswell and an ace from Nikki Capps gave Princeton a 7-4 cushion in game three. The Rebels were plagued by errors on 10 consecutive points turning an 8-7 lead into a 17-8 deficit.

A pair of kills from Braswell and a kill by Devon Murphy allowed the Bulldogs to finish off game three.

North Duplin's struggles continued in game four as the Rebels gave away six of the first 10 points on errors and fell behind 9-1. Princeton's lead swelled to 23-8 and Brittany Baker's block on match point finished off the Bulldogs road win.

Perhaps the silver lining for North Duplin is that the errors that hampered it on Tuesday appear to be correctable.

"The girls are frustrated in that we lost, but they're also frustrated in that they know what we did wrong," said Best. "We've got to get our passing under control. We'll have to work on that practice."

Braswell finished with nine kills and four aces for the Bulldogs and Erin Shultz added 18 assists an ace and a kill. Cates had eight assists, four kills and two aces for the Rebels. Felicia Lynch provided four assists, three digs, two aces and a kill.

Princeton visits Ayden-Grifton today and North Duplin travels to Ayden-Grifton on Thursday. Both varsity contests begin at approximately 6 p.m.