VOLLEYBALL: Goldsboro sweeps county foe Southern Wayne

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 22, 2016 10:00 AM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

It's a good start.

Goldsboro is far from finished, though.

The Cougars completed the non-conference portion of their volleyball schedule with a 25-19, 25-20, 25-14 conquest of county rival Southern Wayne inside Norvell T. Lee Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.

Goldsboro rose to 10-5 overall -- its second-best, single-season performance with 10th-year head coach TJ Lancaster.

But Lancaster remains skeptical.

Plenty of things can happen during the team's final eight games -- all Eastern Carolina 2-A Conference contests, including a road contest today at perennial power South Lenoir.

"We'll take those (ECC games) one at a time and see what happens," said Lancaster, whose team extended its win streak to three and claimed its seventh three-set sweep of the season.

Senior outside hitter Becca Pittard cranked out 13 kills. McKayla Roberts provided 10 kills and Jacquiera Braswell reeled off eight kills. A 6-foot-1 sophomore middle hitter, Roberts feasted off numerous Southern Wayne overpasses at the net.

GHS mashed 17 kills in the second set.

Riley Howell dished out 31 assists, thanks to solid defense and consistent passing from her back row mates. Dakota Jones took charge and her pinpoint passes helped the Cougars stay within their offensive system.

"Dakota had a great game on the back row tonight," beamed Lancaster. "She was passing everything great. Almost every one of her passes were a great option for Riley tonight."

Marcy Taylor served five aces.

Southern Wayne (1-15) played strong throughout the night, particularly in the first and second sets. Freshman Daylan Wiggs (eight digs) and senior Brittany Moore covered the floor well on hard-hit deliveries from the Cougars. Goldsboro worked to get sideouts and put together mini scoring runs to pull out a five-point win.

"My girls are fighters and I couldn't be more proud to be their coach," SW head coach Jamie Williams said. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to make some minor key adjustments quick enough. It was a great team effort and there were definitely some improvements from our last game.

"Our girls never give up and fight every set they play."

Alexus Elliott emerged as the Saints' offensive leader with six kills. Caroline Summerlin supplied three kills. Williams cited the teamwork and the heart of each of her players that played a vital role in the three-set affair.

"Southern Wayne fought and really brought their game tonight," Lancaster said. "They played a lot better than the first time we matched up with them. They were energetic and did a good job.

"You can tell they're getting better playing that 3-A/4-A competition (in their conference)."

The Cougars have prevailed in seven of their last eight outings.

"We went through a rough patch with those three games against Hobbton, C.B. Aycock and Wayne Christian," Lancaster said. "They are playing great. This is the best we've ever been (record-wise) at this point in the season.

"I'm proud of them."