Aycock regroups, dumps Oxford Webb in 3A volleyball playoffs

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 24, 2015 11:08 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock needed to find a way to pipe some energy into its volleyball team after suffering a disastrous -- and frustrating -- second-set loss to J.H. Webb on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Falcons did.

They regained their focus on the court, cleaned up their serve receive and made some slight adjustments in their offensive system.

And it worked out in CBA's favor.

Arlanda Faulkner cranked out a match-high 20 kills, and setters Hannah Carter and Cassandra Lassiter combined for 41 assists during a 26-24, 17-25, 27-25, 25-19 victory over the Warriors in opening-round play of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A playoffs.

"It could have gone either way," said Golden Falcons assistant coach Tangela Faulkner, whose team led J.H. Webb in total team kills (53-46) and total team blocks (7-2).

The Golden Falcons yielded a total of 13 "free" points on attack errors and serve-receive miscues in the second set, which allowed the 24th-seeded Warriors to build an insurmountable 10-point lead.

Once the set ended, Faulkner told the team to forget about it.

Aycock began to scrap and claw for every point. And the Warriors' strong mentality from the second set began to waiver as the match progressed.

Lassiter and Carter worked the ball to either pin, and received pivotal production from Alexis Bynum on the slide kill. Bynum, Faulkner and Mookie Powell put away several balls behind a scrappy defense that scrambled to keep possessions alive.

"I think our energy and incorporating different plays (was different after the second set)," said CBA senior libero Sydney Schmeltzer, who collected a match-high 44 digs.

"Alexis did a great working the net and Arlanda did, too. our defense was there, we were getting the balls up and our serve receive (was better)."

The teams battled through 12 ties and five lead changes in the third set. Senior outside hitter Taylor Daniels and Faulkner combined to knock down three kills. The third terminated point put the Golden Falcons in front 25-24.

A double-hit violation gave the ball back to Webb. Carter made a great save on a loose ball that Cyerra Carter put away for a point at 26-25. Faulkner capped the set with a kill off Hannah Carter's assist.

The fourth set featured 11 ties and six lead changes before Faulkner terminated a set-tying point, and served a go-ahead ace to make it 17-16. The Warriors fell victim to unforced errors and Aycock ended the set with an 8-3 run.

"I don't think we're mentally tough enough to win these games," said Webb head coach Ellis Crews, whose team finished in a three-way tie with Chapel Hill and Hillsborough Orange for second place in the Big Eight Conference.

"I was wondering when (our nervousness) was going to creep in and it did. They've got a good team. I give them credit. They keep fighting ... their team is a little more mentally tough than ours."