Perquimans ousts Rosewood in 1-A play
By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 29, 2010 1:46 PM
There's no defense for size.
Rosewood had no answer for Perquimans' height around the net in a 25-23, 28-26, 25-14 loss in the third round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A volleyball playoffs on Thursday evening.
Pirates' middle hitter Becky Martin presented problems for the Eagles throughout the match. Martin finished with eight blocks and five kills. Teammates Sabrina Noe, Danielle Baccus, Shelby Stokley and Jessica White all stood close to six-feet tall and combined for 13 kills.
"They were strong at the net, but they weren't strong deep and we couldn't hit the ball deep," said Rosewood head coach Jennifer Cochran. "We faced a double block that we haven't really seen this season. We couldn't get over that."
Martin's block gave Perquimans a 21-19 lead late in set one. Rachel Pnthisic's service ace, and a block and a kill from Martin finished off the set. The Eagles misfired on six serves during set one.
"We really didn't play well," said Cochran. "There's nothing I can do from (the bench) to help with that. I think athletically they were better than us. I think we didn't really put our hearts into it tonight.
"I thought Becky Martin in the middle, we set her up a lot. She's probably the tallest player we've faced all year."
Rosewood led 24-20 in set two before the Pirates reeled off five consecutive points. Pnthisic delivered three aces during that stretch and Martin and White combined on a block.
The Eagles served for the set with a 26-25 lead, but two unforced errors and Stokley's kill closed out the set.
"We gave that set away," said Cochran. "I don't preach put your head down but that was a big part of it. They just dropped their heads."
Perquimans raced out to a 10-3 lead in the third set. Martin tallied four blocks during the final set and Noe's off-speed hit ended the match.
Rosewood's Megann Tyndall contributed four kills and two aces. Laura Vinson added four kills and freshman Ellen Morgan supplied three kills and two blocks.
The Eagles (20-5 overall), the Carolina 1-A Conference regular-season and tournament champions, lost in the third round of the state playoffs for the second straight season.
"I didn't really think we would make it to the third round," said Cochran. "We are the conference champions. That's a big deal because nobody really expected us to get this far."