PREP VOLLEYBALL: C.B. Aycock turns back Eastern Wayne in 5 sets

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 7, 2018 5:51 AM

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By RUDY COGGINS

rcoggins@newsargus.com

Eastern Wayne's volleyball team gathered near its bench after a second-set loss to arch rival Charles B. Aycock on Thursday evening.

Someone was missing.

Head coach Anna Hajjar lingered a little longer than usual at the scorer's table and then stood off to the side.

It was a silent message.

She wanted the Warriors to solve their problems on the court on their own.

"As much as I would love to be on that court and play, it's them," Hajjar said. "I didn't talk to them. It was their moment to figure it out. They did. Sometimes we have to put it in their hands say 'this is your baby, this is your egg. You have to protect it. I can't do it for you.'

"They wanted it tonight. It was just unfortunate that we didn't [win]."

Eastern Wayne came close, though.

Victoria Patnaude's solo block and an unforced error by the Warriors allowed the Golden Falcons to escape 25-17, 25-21, 18-25, 23-25, 17-15. The five-set thriller halted Aycock's three-game skid in Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference play.

"I know we won, but we don't need to celebrate," CBA head coach Tangela Faulkner said to her team after the match.

"I wasn't happy with the way we won. We didn't execute our gameplan the way we talked about and that's why we went five sets. We're a much better team than we showed tonight."

Aycock controlled the tempo and pace during the first two sets.

Senior setter Mckenzie Norris distributed 12 assists among hitters Patnaude, Daelyn Brock, Abbey Thomas and Camryn Ryan during that stretch.

The first set had six ties, the last at 13-13. Patnaude's kill ignited a set-ending 12-4 run.

The Golden Falcons (6-7 overall, 1-3 ECC) built an early lead in set two and extended it to as much as seven points on two occasions. The Warriors climbed to within 24-19, but Thomas sealed it with an ace -- one of 17 registered by CBA on the night.

Unlike the first two sets, Eastern Wayne (3-7, 0-4) began to find an offensive rhythm in the third set.

Back-row passes dropped into the capable hands of setter Paige Neiman, who helped guide the Warriors to a commanding six-point lead in set three. CBA knotted the score at 18-18 when Brock tooled a kill off of an EW block on the opposite side, and went ahead 19-18 on a double block against the Warriors' Alana Kazar.

The Warriors answered with a set-ending 7-2 run.

Set No. 4 played out much like the third set as Aycock struggled at the service line and appeared disjointed in its serve-receive game. Out-of-system balls and first touches by Norris led to easy transition offense for the Warriors, who received significant hustle from Neiman, Kazar, libero Bethaney Williams, Demya Yelverton and Ziomara Williams.

"We've got to clean that up ... getting ball to target," Faulkner said of her team's offensive troubles. "The serve receive, with the changes I made, somehow it affected the balance of the back row."

The teams battled through nine ties in the decisive fifth set.

A passing error by the Golden Falcons created a 15-15 deadlock before Patnaude came through with her team-leading ninth block of the night. The Warriors committed consecutive errors to give CBA the set and match.