Saints present Bell with first-ever ECC win
By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on September 7, 2012 1:48 PM
DUDLEY -- First-year Southern Wayne head coach Courtney Bell already earned her first victory over the season.
Now she has her first Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference victory.
Southern Wayne rebounded from a dismal first set and defeated Eastern Wayne 10-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-14 on Thursday night.
"It feels amazing to come out and see how the girls came together to get a conference win," Bell said. "I could not be more proud as a coach."
The night started poorly for the Saints as the Warriors dominated the opening set and rolled to a 25-10 win.
Southern Wayne battled back with an inspired second set that featured back-and-forth play early. With the teams tied at 19-19, Saint standout Deborah Bennett toed the service line and delivered five consecutive points, including two critical aces that put the set out of reach.
"I told them that the first set was not up to my expectations," Bell said. "I think we played with much better intensity in the second set and that gave us some momentum."
The Saints maintained the momentum through the final two sets as they took control of the match and never looked back.
"There is no excuse for the way we played tonight," Eastern Wayne head coach Tony Parrish said. "Southern Wayne wanted to win more than we did and it showed."
Bennett paced the Saints' attack with 12 kills, two blocks and three aces. Savannah Wiggins added five kills in the win.
Casey Young led the Warriors with five kills. Allyson Newsome finished with three kills and three aces.
Southern Wayne (2-7 overall, 1-2 ECC) visits Kinston on Monday. Eastern Wayne (4-7, 0-3) entertains C.B. Aycock on Tuesday.