Eastern Wayne answers Saints' third-set challenge

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 6, 2010 1:47 PM

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Up two sets to none on senior night, Eastern Wayne was ready to celebrate.

Southern Wayne had other ideas.

The Saints forced a fourth set, but the Warriors hung on for a 25-18, 25-13, 19-25, 27-25 victory in Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference volleyball play Tuesday evening in New Hope.

After dropping the first two sets Southern, Wayne regrouped and found the serving and passing touch it lacked early in the match. Down 17-12 in set three, the Saints went on an 8-0 run fueled by Eastern Wayne's unforced errors and two blocks and a kill from Courtney Holland.

Qualanda Mathis' kill and Emily Carr's ace finished off the set.

"We started playing like we can play," said Southern Wayne head coach Eric Durol. "As long as they play like that I'm happy. We started serving and moving the ball around like we know how to do. Before, we were just serving it over the net right to them."

The fourth set was a back-and-forth struggle. An 8-0 run gave the Saints a 14-10 advantage. Kendra Nash's ace, Carissa Turner's kill and two Southern Wayne errors helped the Warriors climb to within 20-19.

Both teams served with an opportunity to win the set, but faltered. The Saints led 25-24, but couldn't force a fifth set as Madison Davis' serve sailed long.

Jasmine Benjamin served a pair of aces to close the match for the Warriors. Davis and Benjamin both finished with five aces.

"In set four, we started playing not to lose," said Eastern Wayne head coach Tony Parrish. "We're very fragile and when you don't have a lot of wins and things start going our way, they start to doubt themselves. We had a few things go our way and I'm happy we won. If we had gone to a fifth set we would have been in trouble."

Turner's off-speed hit capped a 7-0 run as the Warriors built a 16-6 edge in set one. Lura Hulse supplied two aces and a kill during that stretch. The Saints cut the deficit to 20-15 but two aces from Nash, and kills from Smith, Hulse, Benjamin and Tiffany Gussenhofen finished the set.

Eastern Wayne reeled off 10 consecutive points in set two to grab a 20-6 lead. Chelsea Hill contributed three aces during the second set and Morgan Smith had two.

Holland recorded four kills and three blocks for Southern Wayne.

Eastern Wayne (3-12 overall, 2-7 ECC) visits Charles B. Aycock on Thursday, while Southern Wayne (3-10, 0-9) entertains South Johnston.