VOLLEYBALL: Warriors find their swagger again

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on September 8, 2016 9:57 AM

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Eastern Wayne coach Anna Hajjar knew her team needed a win.

The Warriors recently dropped two consecutive three-set matches to Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference foes South Central and New Bern.

So on Wednesday against Greene Central, it wasn't so much about fixing any major errors or searching for answers. It was more about building confidence.

And with a 25-10, 23-25, 25-10, 25-10 victory over the Rams, EW not only recaptured some of its swagger, but also notched its seventh victory of the season. That surpasses the win total from a year ago.

"South Central we could've beat," Hajjar said. "New Bern I kind of expected, but (the players) didn't really know that at first. So they needed this win today just to get that morale back up."

From the results of the first set, it seemed that the Warriors were headed for a sweep. EW sprinted to an 8-0 lead thanks in part to three service aces from Warriors' captain Jennifer Sparks. The Rams did not do themselves any favors -- they committed 11 errors in the opening set.

The second set proved to be a complete reversal and a brick wall to EW's momentum train. Down 10-6, GC used an 11-1 run to grab a 17-11 advantage, which would be its largest lead of the match. During that run, the Warriors committed six hitting errors.

EW managed to battle back and take a 19-18 lead, but five more errors and a pair of kills from GC's Aniyah Jones put away the set.

"They got complacent," Hajjar said. "When you get complacent, you get quiet, which they do all the time. Their energy and their skill and camaraderie don't match. It's always the same thing -- us not opening our mouth. Every time. It drives me nuts."

The Warriors acknowledged the frustration of their coach, and responded by dominating the third set. GC's only lead was 2-1, and that quickly evaporated. In the set, EW's Emily Newsome and Rayna Gibson both had two kills.

Similar trouble appeared to be brewing in the fourth set when GC took an early 8-6 lead. Then Warriors' sophomore Alyssa Jackson stepped behind the service line and registered six consecutive aces. Four GC errors, a kill by EW's Naomi Williams and five more aces by Jackson gave the Warriors an insurmountable 22-8 lead.

"(Jackson's) got the height and the angle and the power to where it's just a rocket coming right at you," Hajjar said. "When she gets her rhythm of that strong serve, it's hard to pass back. It'd hard to dig and receive those balls."

EW faces North Lenoir today and then heads to 4-A powerhouse J.H. Rose next Tuesday for its third conference match of the season.

Hajjar said that it is challenging going up against the 4-A schools, but she still believes her team has it within them to compete, and make those bigger schools earn their points.

"There are some of them that we can contend with," Hajjar said. "Even though our 3-A is our focus, we can contend with some of them. We just have to get used to it. You have to get used to the fast pace."