Bulldogs sweep Chargers

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on October 13, 2010 1:47 PM

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PRINCETON -- In a battle between the proverbial tortoise and hare, once again the slow and steady approach won the race.

Princeton quelled Ayden-Grifton's high-flying offense with a methodical and mistake-free scheme and earned a 25-13, 25-21, 25-10 victory on Tuesday night. The win sets up a critical Carolina 1-A Conference clash with archrival Rosewood on Thursday.

The Dawgs and Eagles meet with the league championship and No. 1 seed for the state playoffs on the line. First serve is 6 p.m.

"That is always a big game and it's even more magnified now," said Princeton head coach Trudi Rast. "We need to play well at the net and limit mistakes like we did tonight."

Tuesday's match was never in doubt.

With her team trailing 9-8 in the opening set, Traci Bridgers stepped to the service line and the Dawgs reeled off 16 consecutive points. Bridgers recorded three aces during the decisive stretch. Back-to-back kills by Jenna Aycock put the set away.

The two squads battled back and forth through the second set, but once again it was a late scoring run that won the contest for the Dawgs. Savanna Massengill ended the set with a kill and a block.

Princeton never trailed in the third set.

"Ayden-Grifton is a very athletic team and that made cutting down on our mistakes even more important than usual," said Rast. "I thought we came out with good energy and controlled the pace."

Massengill paced the Dawgs (13-6 overall, 8-1 CC) with six kills and three blocks. Aycock added four kills and Bridgers finished with four aces.

Rosewood won the previous meeting in four sets. The teams have split their last four meetings, including the Dawgs' victory over the Eagles in the 2009 tournament championship.