VOLLEYBALL: Warriors take set off Conley

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on September 16, 2016 9:57 AM

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Prosperity, as the old saying goes, is a malleable scale.

Such was the case Thursday evening for Eastern Wayne's varsity volleyball team, which offset a nightmarish start with a dizzying third-set rally before falling to traditional Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A powerhouse D.H. Conley 25-3, 25-12, 23-25, 25-17 at New Hope.

For Conley, the four-setter was an ample mix of attitude, precise execution and late frustration. For the host Warriors, it was a brief uprising against a gathering of Murphy's Law.

The opener, which took just 12 minutes to complete, was a crisp, letter-perfect expression of Viking attack formation. Sparked by the duo of Caitlyn Smirne and Alannah Thomas, Conley led 11-1 and 19-2 before filing a 25-3 victory.

Eastern Wayne (9-4 overall, 0-4 ECC), which struggled early in all facets, looked every bit the part of stunned prizefighter. The Warriors lost points on serve. There were communication issues when trying to form attacks.

More than one ball was sacrificed to the gym's ceiling.

"We've struggled through (times like) that the whole season," head coach Anna Hajjar said of the opener. "We were very disappointed."

The second stanza proceeded in much the same fashion, with Conley utilizing its depth to file a systematic 25-12 triumph.

A sweep, however, was not in the cards.

Led by the play of senior Amari Brigman, the blue-and-gold scared up a rally in a desperate third set, one which saw the hosts recover from a 15-8 Conley advantage. A kill by junior Emily Newsome made the score 15-11, and prompted a 9-5 Warrior run that culminated with a thunderous spike by Alyssa Jackson that evened matters at 20.

Spurred by a raucous crowd, EW survived a late Conley charge, winning consecutive rallies and punctuating its third-set victory with another clean kill by Newsome.

Suffice to say, life was back in the building.

"They got themselves out of it," Hajjar said. "That's what happens when we click and do what we're supposed to."

Visibly agitated by the EW surge, Conley began the fourth in clean fashion, winning 10 of 16 points to re-establish control and resemble the team which, entering the contest, had only dropped three sets all year.

Smirne and Thomas factored heavily in the resurgence, developing and finishing for the Vikings and putting to rest any notion of an upset.

At 16-13, an offspeed shot by Thomas appeared to land over the Warriors' end line, but was ruled a point for the Vikings. The controversy elicited a chorus of groans from the crowd and a bit of newfound spirit for Conley, who then collected nine of the final 12 points to end the affair.

Conley 3, EW 1.

"We have to work on better connection," Hajjar said of her team's performance. "Just refining."

Eastern Wayne was paced by Newsome and Brianna Autman, who registered five kills each. Junior Naomi Williams coupled with Newsome to file a combined 20 assists. Jackson finished the match with four kills and a team-high six blocks.

Conley's Smirne and Thomas led all players with 22 assists and 31 kills, respectively.

EW is the guest of county rival Southern Wayne on Tuesday.