Princeton sweeps Wallace-Rose Hill in 1A volleyball playoffs

By Brandon Davis
Published in Sports on October 30, 2015 1:48 PM

• Print
• Email

bdavis@newsargus.com

PRINCETON -- They're not a dynasty.

But Princeton High School's volleyball team is three games away from holding the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A state championship trophy for a second straight year.

The third-seeded Bulldogs (25-1 overall) moved one step closer with a 25-15, 25-9, 25-15 victory over Wallace-Rose Hill on Thursday evening. They will play host to Voyager Academy in the eastern semifinals on Saturday.

Game time is 3 p.m.

The first set laid the foundation for an unbelievable second set.

"(We were) just kinda, I guess, feeling the other team out, what their shots were going to be and how their system of play worked," Princeton head coach Paige Renfrow said. "From there, we just rolled with it."

And they rolled.

In the second set senior Kelsey Peedin ran toward the bleachers and hit the ball back into play. Junior Daisy Eklund was at the right place to hit the ball from behind, putting Princeton up 9-1.

"She (Peedin) got hurt in Friday's practice before our first playoff game so she didn't even play in Saturday's game," Renfrow said. "For her to have gotten that touch, and Kelsey chased it down. That was an awesome play for us."

Eklund recorded eight kills and two service aces in the second set. Senior Hailey Wood had two kills and one block. Senior Taylor Carroll had three kills and one dig.

Eklund ended the game with an impressive 17 kills, two blocks and three aces. Wood had five kills and three service aces. Carroll rolled with nine kills and five digs.

Renfrow knows what her team should expect in the next round.

"The games are going to be tougher," she said. "We can't afford any kind of errors -- back-to-back-to-back-to-back. They're going to have errors. It's not a perfect game (and) there's no way it can be. We just have to minimize our errors on our side and attack."