South Lenoir falls to West Craven in four sets
South Lenoir's Mary Grace Beyer, left, and Jessica Harris block a spike from West Craven's Lexi McCoy during Tuesday's game. Photo by Laieke Abebe / Neuse News
Unforced errors were the name of the game for South Lenoir.
Despite winning the opening set, the Blue Devils fell in four sets (25-18, 13-25, 23-25, 14-25) to West Craven on Tuesday in Deep Run. Head coach Lisa Smith and her team are now tied for second place with the Eagles.
“We didn’t play well,” she said. “West Craven came out to play and we didn’t. There were some moments where we played as a team, but we didn’t communicate and we didn’t play our game. We’re going to get back at it in practice because we have to be better going forward.”
The Blue Devils (10-3, 5-2 ECC) started the match strong, but the Eagles (9-5, 5-2) tested them early. Both teams found themselves in a 16-16 tie to start the opening set. A Mallory Dawson service ace and a kill by Alyssa Kopanski highlighted a 9-2 closing run, giving the Blue Devils early control.
West Craven responded well in the second set, starting on a 7-1 run and taking advantage of the service and passing errors made by the Blue Devils. South Lenoir did save five straight set points before the Eagles prevailed and tied the match at one set apiece.
The third set was intense as both teams went back and forth for control of the match. A kill by Sara Beth Stroud broke an 11-11 tie and the 5-1 run overall made it 16-12 Blue Devils. Once again, the response from the Eagles was strong as Harmony Campbell and Lexi McCoy helped their team fight back to tie the set at 19. Unforced errors cost South Lenoir again as the Eagles took a two sets to one lead.
The final set was dominated by West Craven as a 6-1 run early in the set gave them the lead for good.
First year head coach Billy Dudding saw his team show a lot of confidence and they’re continuing to build their winning streak.
“We’re clicking on all cylinders,” he said. “I knew we had the potential to be a really good ball club. Our team is starting to play together and it’s showing in the results because we’ve beaten some great competition. We adjusted well from the last time we saw this team and they have a really good bunch. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into our game against Ayden-Grifton.”
Meanwhile for the Blue Devils, coach Smith knows her team is a lot better than they showed against a very good West Craven team. She’ll be counting on her senior leaders to step up as the final weeks of the regular season approach.
“This conference is difficult,” she said. “We have to play well every night to have a good chance of winning. My knows that we’re going to get the other teams best shot in every game and we have to be prepared physically and mentally.”
South Lenoir travels to face Kinston in Eastern Carolina 2A action on Thursday.
