Bulldogs dispatch Raiders in three sets

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on October 24, 2012 1:48 PM

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PRINCETON -- Princeton limited its mistakes, while Midway made enough for both teams.

The end result was a 25-12, 25-18, 25-21 victory for the Bulldogs in the second round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A volleyball playoffs on Tuesday night.

Princeton plays host to Southwest Onslow on Thursday at 7 p.m.

"I felt like tonight we played one of our best matches of the season," Princeton head coach Page Renfrow said. "We were fundamentally sound and we did not have any real lulls in our intensity."

Princeton (15-6 overall) jumped on top early in the first set when Amber Hill and Kasey Edwards delivered back-to-back kills and put the Bulldogs ahead 9-5. An eight-point scoring run with Hill at the service line was fueled by five Midway hitting errors and put the set out of reach.

The second set was more of the same as the Raiders struggled to keep balls in play. Princeton never trailed en route to a 25-18 win.

The visitors began to get their offense together in the third set as outside hitter Jada Canady found her groove and buried consecutive kills to force a 17-17 tie. Princeton broke serve and Edwards, Hill and Savanna Massengill scored three consecutive kills to put the Bulldogs ahead for good.

"I was really pleased with how our girls off the bench responded late in the third set," Renfrow said. "We made some very nice passes that set up our hitters and really stole the momentum back."

Hill led the Princeton attack with six kills and one block. Massengill and Edwards each tallied five kills. Taylor Carroll recorded two kills and led the Bulldogs from the service line with two aces.

Canady paced Midway with seven kills. Tess Williams added four kills.

"I told the girls coming into the playoffs that each round was only going to get tougher," Renfrow said. "At this point all the teams left are quality teams. I feel like our team is ready for that challenge and they are excited."