Princeton starts league play with a sweep

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on August 28, 2013 1:47 PM

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rhanchett@newsargus.com

PRINCETON -- Princeton opened its Carolina 1-A Conference volleyball season in impressive fashion with a 25-17, 25-9, 25-12 win over James Kenan on Tuesday night.

Due to the league expanding from six teams to eight after the N.C. High School Athletic Association reallignment, teams were forced to scratch some of their non-conference matches in favor of more meaningful league matches. The end result was league play beginning in August.

"The first thing I said when the schedule came out was 'Wow, conference play starts early'," Princeton head coach Paige Renfrow said. "We only got four non-conference matches in, but we played a couple of very good opponents so I felt like we were prepared for today."

The Bulldogs looked prepared from the opening serve.

Princeton (4-1 overall, 1-0 CC) raced out to a 13-2 lead in the first set and held off a late charge by the visitors for a 25-17 win. The second set was much the same as the Bulldogs dominated at the net and cruised to a 25-9 triumph.

James Kenan battled back in the third set and took an 11-9 lead when Brooke Kilpatrick buried a kill just inside the back line.

Princeton answered with back-to-back kills by Savannah Massengill and Tori Paul to tie the set. A pair of aces from Taylor Carroll put the Bulldogs ahead for good en route to a 25-12 victory.

"I told the girls after the match that we had to start somewhere and right now we are undefeated in conference play," Renfrow said. "We have a very important match on Thursday against Rosewood and we need to play well to keep the momentum that we created tonight."

Massengill led the Bulldogs with nine kills and three blocks. Carroll finished with five kills and five aces. Tori Paul tallied seven kills.

Phyla Holmes emerged the standout for James Kenan with five kills and three blocks. Kilpatrick added four kills and one ace for the Tigers.

James Kenan (0-3, 0-1) plays host to Hobbton on Thursday, while Princeton tangles with Rosewood.