By Junious Smith III

VANCEBORO — The hottest contender in the Eastern Carolina 2A Conference wasn't enough for the two-time defending champion.

Ayden-Grifton defeated West Craven 25-18, 25-20, 25-20 Thursday to maintain its conference supremacy. The Eagles (9-6, 5-3 EC2A) were riding a six-game winning streak into their home match, but the Chargers (12-4, 7-0) instead extended their run to seven straight and 24 consecutive EC2A matches.

“Last year, we came in here on a Saturday morning game and West Craven pushed us to five sets,” Ayden-Grifton coach Linda Bryant said. “I told the girls they’ll get better and we can’t take them for granted. We struggled a bit at times, but we were able to pull it off.”

Holly Cannon's ace started the game for Ayden-Grifton, but West Craven responded with a 6-2 run, highlighted by a kill and ace from Lexi McCoy. The game would eventually be tied at 11, but Aale’Yah Garris kill sparked an 8-0 run, highlighted by a three aces from Garris and two kills from Dykes. West Craven got within four, but Ayden-Grifton closed the set with three points, the last on an Alexia Bryant kill.

Cannon’s ace was part of a 3-0 run to start the second set, but West Craven fought back to go up 7-6 after Hailey Adams had one of her own. Garris countered with a kill on the next point to spark a 7-1 run to give the Chargers the advantage, and while the Eagles tied it at 18, Bryant responded with a kill and ace to swing momentum back. Cannon would end the set with an ace to push the Eagles to the brink.

In the third set, West Craven jumped out to a 12-6 lead — highlighted by a block and kill from Kayla Simmons — but Ayden-Grifton had an immediate answer. A trio of kills from Dykes and three aces from Garris highlighted a 10-0 run the Eagles couldn’t respond to as the Chargers took home the victory.

Cannon said the team’s passes played a key role in the win.

“We’ve been working on them in practice and Coach told us if our sets are good, our hits will be,” Cannon said. “That’s what we tried to do in this game and it worked.”

Ayden-Grifton will head back home to play Washington Tuesday, while West Craven will look to get back on the winning track against Havelock on the road Saturday.