Lanier, Hawks topple Eagles
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on September 11, 2009 1:47 PM
North Lenoir played to its strengths in a 25-14, 25-17, 25-14 victory over Rosewood in non-conference volleyball action on Thursday afternoon.
The Hawks continually played the ball from the middle of the floor and set senior outside hitter Marissa Lanier. The four-year varsity starter delivered eight kills and two blocks.
"Marissa has been a big part of this team for four years," said North Lenoir head coach Heather Carson. "The best part of her game is that she is very good at all six positions on the court."
The Hawks set the tone in the opening set by jumping out to a 6-1 lead on the strength of two service aces from Heidi Milliken. The visitors continued their strong early play and allowed Lanier to get involved in the offensive attack.
Leading 21-14, the Hawks (9-1 overall) turned the ball over to Darylanne Radford, who recorded the team's final four points from the service line.
"I felt like we played better than the score might indicate," said Rosewood head coach Jennifer Cochran. "Our biggest problem was we didn't do a very good job passing, and we played too many balls into the middle which set up their offense."
Taylor Johnson helped the Eagles stay in the contest through a back-and-forth second set. She tallied two kills and a block as Rosewood eventually erased an 11-4 deficit. After the Eagles took a 14-13 lead, a series of unforced errors allowed the Hawks to regain control of the contest and roll to victory.
North Lenoir will try to avenge its only loss of the season when it plays host to Farmville Central on Monday.
"North Lenoir is a 3-A team and they are a good 3-A team," said Cochran. "They are too good to give extra chances and we had a couple of dry spells serving that really hurt us."
Johnson led the Eagles (1-6 overall) with eight kills and six blocks. Rachael Kornegay added five kills.
Rosewood entertains Midway on Monday. Cochran announced the regular-season series with North Duplin, for the second consecutive year, will be played in honor of "Serving for a Cure" program. All proceeds will go toward cancer research. The teams play Sept. 23 and Oct. 13.