Greene Central's Abby Vendemia, left, and Madalyn Radford go up for a block in Monday's season-opener against Farmville Central. Photo by Laieke Abebe / Neuse News

FARMVILLE — Despite losing the first game of the season, the Greene Central volleyball team is confident in a successful 2019 campaign.

The Rams held a lead in all three sets, but was swept 28-26, 25-19, 25-20 to Farmville Central on the road Monday. Still, it was a positive outlook for a Greene Central squad that went 4-15 last season.

“We struggled to close all three sets,” Rams coach Emily Nelson said. “However, this was only our first game of the season and I’m really encouraged. I thought we played good volleyball today, but I know we can be better.”

Greene Central started the opening set strong with a 16-12 lead, but the Jaguars came back to tie the set. The Rams also held a 21-19 lead and even had a set point to start the match. Unfortunately, the Jaguars were able to score the last three points to take the first set in a tiebreaker.

On senior Daly Keel’s serve, the Rams got off to a 6-0 start in the second set and led 11-6. Once again, the Jaguars were able to answer with a run of their own. An 8-3 run tied the score at 14, and Farmville Central would score 11 of the next 16 points to go up two sets.

The Rams held a 15-11 lead in the final set, but Farmville Central scored six points in a row to take the lead and never trailed again.

Nelson said she believes her team will be extremely competitive this season. The Rams showed a lot of positive signs against the Jaguars, who won the Eastern Plains 2A conference tournament last season.

“It’s all a matter of going up from here,” Nelson said. “We have plenty of games left and everyone on the team has a part to play in this season. With a lot of hard work, I think we can win a lot of games. The goal is to improve everyday and matches like this will help us become a better team.”

Farmville Central hosts Ayden-Grifton on Wednesday. The Chargers are coming off of a season opening loss to Winterville South Central and will look to respond. Meanwhile, Greene Central will host Wilson Beddingfield for their home opener Tuesday.