Princeton volleyball repeats as 1A east region champ

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on November 4, 2015 1:48 PM

• Print
• Email

rcoggins@newsargus.com

TIMBERLAKE -- Princeton's Kortney Edwards stepped behind the service line.

She glanced at the scoreboard.

She bounced the ball once ... twice ... a third time.

The chair official blew his whistle and signaled Edwards to serve.

Ball up.

"I was really focused on getting it in and if they get it back, us playing it and we getting the last kill," said Edwards, whose team led Roxboro Community 24-11 at that point.

Princeton never got a return.

Edwards' served dropped just in front of RC libero Camryn Black, who stretched to make a pancake save on the match-clinching service ace. Edwards rushed toward her teammates and PHS celebrated its second consecutive eastern 1-A regional volleyball championship -- a 26-24, 25-17, 19-25, 25-11 triumph inside a sweltering Helena Gym on Tuesday evening.

The third-seeded Bulldogs (27-1 overall) oppose Alleghany for the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A state title at the Raleigh Convention Center on Saturday. First serve is 5 p.m.

Tickets are $9.

"When I got the ace, my heart dropped," said an emotional Edwards, one of three PHS players to record double digits in kills. "It was the most exciting thing because last year I broke my ankle and I wasn't able to play."

Edwards' ace was the exclamation point to a match that included 17 ties, nine lead changes and several long rallies that dictated the momentum at different points during the two-hour affair. Each team possessed the uncanny ability of keeping points alive on balls that seemed destined to hit the court, which had to constantly be wiped down with towels due to sweat from the players after they dove on the floor.

Renfrow and RC head coach Meagan Kimbrough also engaged in a chess match. Kimbrough threw different defensive looks at the Bulldogs in an attempt to break down their offense. Renfrow's team adjusted, stretched the court with shots to different areas and kept the tempo in its favor.

Roxboro Community (26-2) nearly broke Princeton's string of 75 consecutive sets without a loss when it took a 24-23 lead on an unforced error in set one. But RC committed an attack error, Hailey Wood slammed a kill to the back line and Kelsey Peedin finished off the rally with an ace.

"That was a huge comeback for us, to fight (and) win that first set," said PHS head coach Paige Renfrow, whose team won last year's regional title on the road, also. "I knew we had the fight in us for the rest of the night, no matter if we had lost the set."

A perennial North Central Athletic Conference power, top-seeded Roxboro built an early advantage in the second set. The Bulldogs forged a 10-10 tie on Wood's third of seven kills during the set.

Woods gave her team the lead for good, 11-10, with an ace.

RC climbed to within three points on two occasions before Edwards pounded out three kills during a four-point stretch. Setter Beth Braswell (40 assists) kept feeding the ball to Woods, Edwards and Braswell, who polished off the set with a kill down the middle of the court.

"At this point in the game, a leader's got to step up and it was my time to step up," said Woods, who cranked out 16 kills. "We just had to put mind over matter. We tried to execute and get things done, and that's what we did. We had to get smart where we were placing the ball. They were putting blocks up on a lot our hitters."

Roxboro controlled the third set and built as much as an eight-point lead. Junior hitter Daisy Eklund closed the deficit to within 16-14 with four of her match-high 24 kills, but Princeton could get no closer.

Renfrow said her team looked a shade tired and a step slow.

The Bulldogs didn't show any fatigue -- but grit and hustle instead -- during the deciding set. Eklund's block -- one of six on the night -- capped a 4-0 run. Roxboro climbed to within 4-3 before an attack error and Eklund's second block stretched the lead back to three points.

Princeton pulled away behind Woods, Braswell and Taylor Carroll. The trio combined for five kills during a 7-2 run that zapped any remaining energy Roxboro had left in its tank. The Bulldogs had 55 kills and just 14 attack errors as a team for the game.

"We did struggle a little bit," said Edwards. "Even when we were down in the previous sets, I knew that me and my teammates could come back from that. I knew we were strong enough. We've got great hitters and we could cover blocks, and our digs were amazing today."

But that last ace was one to remember.