Warriors get focused, defeat Golden Falcons for No. 1 seed

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on October 16, 2014 1:49 PM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

DUDLEY -- Eastern Wayne volleyball coach Jackie Lewis couldn't remember what she told her team.

Senior Jenna Rouse couldn't either, but she knew the coach wasn't heaping praise their way. The Warriors had let a 10-point dwindle down to one and Lewis called a timeout.

"I don't remember exactly what it was," Rouse said. "But she let us know what was happening, and that what was happening needed to stop."

Whatever Lewis said, it worked.

Trisha Bell collected seven straight points at the service line to give Eastern Wayne a 21-25, 25-15, 25-15, 25-17 win over cross-county rival Charles B. Aycock Wednesday night. The Warriors clinched the No. 1 playoff seed among 3-A teams in the Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference.

The Golden Falcons are the No. 2 seed for the second consecutive year.

"This feels great right now," said Lewis, whose team beat Aycock twice within a week. "These girls played their hearts out. They had this win in mind and they executed."

Eastern Wayne's key to success was to keep the ball in play and limit errors. However, the Warriors got sloppy at times and committed errors of their own, especially in the second quarter when the Golden Falcons scored 15 points off of miscues.

"It's all about fundamentals," said Lewis, whose team forced CBA into 56 errors. "Just working in our specific areas, defense, offense, and capitalizing on each individual player's strengths."

And for the second straight game against the Golden Falcons, the Warriors made life difficult for the opposition at the net. The trio of Naheria Hamilton, Vivian Jackson and Chelsea Wynn combined for 14 blocks.

The Warriors also used set passes to the front corner of the net and crossed their kills to the opposite side of the corner which was often left undefended for an easy point.

"When you play to the corner you can either play (a shot to the near) line or hit it across," Rouse said. "Playing the line is a lot harder, and the left corner was there so we were able to use the cross hit."

Eastern Wayne, for the second straight game, also received leadership from its seniors. Casey Young had 10 kills and 12 assists for the Warriors, while Rouse finished the match with seven kills and eight assists. Britni McAlduff had five aces.

Aycock freshman Arlanda Faulkner came of the bench and provided some great energy for the Golden Falcons, and tied for the team-lead with five kills. Abbie Walton had 13 assists and Morgan Foss had five assists and 12 digs.