Union avenges loss to Duplin

Union faced off against a mighty Lady Rebel squad on Thursday for their second heated contest on the court. North Duplin did what they could but the Spartans overpowered them and took the match 3-1, avenging their previous loss.

The game kicked off in an exciting way for the home team, with them arriving on the court and bum rushing the Lady Rebels. Duplin couldn’t answer and Union toppled them in a first set slugfest, 25-15.

In the next set it was a bit more competitive. The Spartans were on a rampage in the early goings and pulled away quickly, stretching their lead out to 11-5. Duplin rallied to within two as the Spartans struggled to cap them off. The Lady Rebels fought hard and Union ran into some trouble as they couldn’t shake the pesky visitors. The Lady Spartans kept their nerve and were able to shut down their advance and take the second win of the evening, 25-20.

Union was a bit wobbly coming out of the gate in the third. It was chaotic on the court as Union was flat footed in their game. The Lady Spartans were tripping over themselves at times and Rebels capitalized on this. They kept up with the Spartans, point for point , while they tried to take their first victory of the night. Slowly but surely, Union grinded away at the Lady Rebels and managed to create a little space to breath. Soft touches from Ariyona to tip the ball over were also followed by sound spikes the proved troublesome for the Rebels. Adrienne Barbour once more proved to a force in the front with big blocks that turn to points.

The Rebels kept pressing and a five point advantage morphed into another tit for tat game. What should’ve been the end turned into extra points and the set extended just a hair longer. The Rebels silenced the Spartans after they tied it up, 25 all. Two serves was all it took and Duplin avoided the sweep taking their first win of the evening at 27-25.

The first point was heavily contested. Cameran Poole saved the point from the corner off a well aimed serve. The Lady Rebels made two great digs and their reaction hits were sailing over the net. Union kept fighting and eventually took the point off a big swing from Morgan Smith. From here, however, the Spartans stumbled, their serves and hits couldn’t stay inbound and Duplin would take the free points. The Rebels were winding up and Union continued to struggle against them. They pulled ahead and took a five point advantage at 9-4.

The Spartans, however, climbed back into it after Duplin suffered from hiccups in their play. Union plugged away and would tie it up at 10 all. Gaining traction, it was looking good for the home team as the plodded ahead, leading 14-11. The Rebels kept swinging and this set was truly anyones. After a round of tit for tat volleyball, the two teams were tied up at 21 all, with Duplin looking to take the match into a fifth set.

Union finally slammed the door on their conference rivals and sent the Rebels home with the loss, taking revenge for their previous loss, earlier this season. They won the set 25-22 and took the match series, 3-1.

The Spartans climb to 9-8 and take third place in the conference after their win over the Lady Rebels at 4-4. They have a busy week coming up to wrap up the season. They have three matches next week as with them on the road two days in a row to take on Wallace Rose-Hill (13-4) and Hobbton (6-8). They cap off the year with their final game at home to take on the current leaders of the Carolina 1A conference the Neuse Charter Cougars (12-10). All games are slated for 6 p.m.