Rosewood eliminates North Duplin
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 20, 2010 1:47 PM
Just keep hustling.
Rosewood turned in a scrappy defensive effort in a 25-11, 16-25, 25-13, 25-23 victory over visiting North Duplin in the semifinals of the Carolina 1-A Conference tournament Tuesday.
The Eagles hustled to dig out countless kill attempts by the Rebels and worked relentlessly as a team to return well-placed serves. Rosewood closed the first set on a 15-0 run and Megann Tyndall supplied two aces during that stretch. Laura Vinson added a pair of kills.
"We dominated in the first set," said Eagles' head coach Jennifer Cochran. "We played really good defense tonight. We didn't put the ball away like we should have. But, I think as far as defense we dug the ball up when we needed to. We got it back to the other side and let them do something with it."
North Duplin responded in the second set by attacking the net.
Angelica Favela's kill and Alonna Pate's off-speed hit helped the Rebels claim a 10-6 advantage. Tearra Ammons' block and kill and two kills from Ansley Hill were part of a 5-0 run that gave North Duplin a 16-8 edge.
Rosewood closed to within 20-15 but Skylar McCarty's ace and two Eagles' errors finished the second set. Ammons finished with seven kills.
"I'm proud of the way the girls fought back," said Rebels' head coach Heather Best. "The first set was kind of rough. I think it all boils down to a lack of focus. We've got to keep the momentum on our side."
Two aces and two kills from Stephanie Hall were part of a 9-0 run that gave Rosewood a 14-2 lead in set three. The Eagles served effectively during all four sets and only misfired on seven serves during the match.
"We served well in the third game," said Cochran. "We kept our ball in the box like we should. I think we made a statement in the first and third set. We only missed seven serves and that's a record for us."
Two aces from Pate and Scarlett Martin's kill put North Duplin (9-11) in front 23-21 late in set four. Anna Ingram's kill and Alyssa Spell's two aces finished the match. Spell distributed 27 assists and Ellen Morgan pounded out 13 kills with six blocks and four digs. Vinson added six digs and five kills.
Rosewood (17-4) entertains Ayden-Grifton in tonight's tournament finals. The Eagles and Chargers split their two meetings during the regular season.
"Ayden-Grifton is really good offensively and we're really good defensively so that kind of feeds off each other," said Cochran. "We're going to have to get kills from places they're not expecting us to get kills from. We're going to have to serve aggressively. The last time we played them we lost in four sets and we missed 18 serves."
North Duplin faces an opponent to be determined on Saturday in the first round of the NCHSAA 1-A state playoffs.