Sampson County swept in Smithfield

Round two of the Carolina 1A volleyball tournament was held out in Smithfield this past Tuesday. The Union Spartans and Lakewood Leopards were surfing a wave of success. The Leopards avenged their previous two losses to the Rebels of North Duplin and the Spartans put down cross county neighbors the Hobbton Wildcats on their quest for the trophy. Neither team was able to put up much of a fight against the Rosewood Eagles and the Neuse Charter Cougars, however, with both squads sent packing after demoralizing losses.

Lakewood v Neuse Charter

The Leopards had played exceptionally against North Duplin, hammering out a 3-1 victory with play that had been a rare occurence this season. On Tuesday, however, it was a radically different team. Silence befell them on the court and the disorganized play came back in full force.

The first set ended in an abysmal 25-12 row with Lakewood seemingly unable to make anything happen. Spikes fell flat or soared over the opposing side, giving the Cougars easy points and quickly put the set out of reach for the Leopards. In the second set, blips of their potential shown through. Communication finally established, the ladies of Lakewood were able to put together a series of strong plays that pushed Neuse back for a spell.

They held firm, exchanging blows up after solid series of organized play until the ninth point. The train went off the rails for Lakewood once more, but this time, they clawed back. They took their first lead of the match after four point rally at 14-13. Brennyn Rouse and Kiyah Braxton would smash the Cougars with their strong swings that proved difficult to defend.

The roller coaster continued, however, but Lakewood continued to fire back. Braylin Blackwell and Alyssa Faircloth made a tremendous block that converted to a point, that shifted the momentum, a reminder of what they could do. This wasn’t enough though as the Cougars were able to snuff out their offense and put them down, but not without effort, 25-19.

The third set saw the complete collapse of Lakewood. Nothing worked and the demeanors on the athletes told the story. The defeated attitude allowed the Cougars to walk away with victors in this match with ease, 25-10.

The Leopards wrap up the tournament sitting 3-18 overall and 2-8 in conference play.

Union v Rosewood

The Spartans showed up in the early goings of the match and gave them the what for. Matching point for point in short spurts kept Union in it but the Eagles were able to disassemble the flimsy play. The Spartans fought but miscues and errors held them at a disadvantage and Rosewood nabbed the first set, 25-18.

Union turned it up in the second set, but the precision and persistence from the Rosewood team proved to be a tough obstacle. The Eagles made them pay as service issues emerged for the Spartans. Union couldn’t hold possession for long sending a handful of hits and serves into the net, allowing the Eagles to pull ahead by six, at 13-7. They didn’t lose resolve though, with Tijaya Goodman and Morgan Smith up front they kept the net contested, not allowing easy hits through.

They reorganized and played with a little more moxie, to clamor back and take the lead at 14-13. There was plenty of life on the court between the two despite the final score, but Rosewood proved superior for the remainder of the set and buried the Spartans in spikes, 25-15.

This set started off hot for the Spartans as they ran ahead early for the first time of the evening. Their first point had the Eagles stunned with Smith swatting down two strong consecutive blows. A relentless Union assault had them frozen in place with Ariyona Spearman sending fireballs to the Rosewood edge, gaining the advantage at 5-1.

The Lady Eagles kept their cool, however, and climbed back into it, shrinking their deficit to 6-4. The Union express was gaining traction, suffocating the previously hot Eagles, at 11-5. The train came to a grinding halt following another round of errors from Union and strong play from Rosewood as they held them to one, then climbed over them to retake the lead, at 13-12.

From here it was a battle for each point, but Union pulled ahead again extending the lead to 21-16. The set slipped away from them once more with Rosewood running full bore at the Spartans. The Eagles tied it up at 22 then ran away with it, putting down the Spartans and advancing to the championship, 25-22.

Union stands even at the end of the conference tournament, sitting at 11-11 overall and 6-6 in league play.