Kinston volleyball loses to Southern Wayne in straight sets
Kinston's Nikylah Williams goes up for a kill in Tuesday's match against Southern Wayne. Photo by Laieke Abebe / Neuse News
The losing streak for Kinston volleyball continued on Tuesday.
Despite holding a lead in two of the three sets, the Vikings (0-3) were swept by Southern Wayne (1-3) at home 25-17, 26-24, 25-17. It was a spirited effort by Stephanie Ybarra’s squad, but the Saints limited their unforced errors en route to their first win of the season.
“We played hard,” Ybarra said. “Both teams played well in the second set and we had our chances to close it out. That set went on for a while and it got to us physically and mentally. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to close that set, but the effort was there.”
The Saints put the Vikings in an early hole to start the first set thanks to a few unforced errors. On the back of some excellent serving, Southern Wayne took the opening set and was off to a flying start.
Kinston responded well in the second set. The Vikings took a 20-19 lead after a service ace by senior Zykia Andrews. After the Saints quickly tied the set, Kinston scored four of the next five points and they had three set points. Despite being down 24-21, Southern Wayne answered with five straight points to take the second set.
Kinston got off to a great start in the final set leading 10-2, but the Saints quickly responded with a huge scoring run. Southern Wayne would score 16 of the next 18 points to take the lead and although the Vikings fought back to make it 18-15, it was as close as they got.
Kinston’s volleyball team hasn’t won a since a four-set win over Greene Central on October 13th, 2015. In the nearly four years since that match, the Vikings have lost 46 consecutive matches and have only won eight total sets in that span.
Ybarra believes that her seniors can make the most of their final season. Despite losing to Havelock and Southwest Onslow to begin the season, they did win one set in each contest.
“I thought we’ve been really competitive so far this season,” she added. “We’ve been close in every set we’ve played except for one. The next step is to hold leads and put sets away consistently. Having six seniors on the floor really helps with this and they know that there’s unfinished business that we want to take care of.”
Kinston’s next chance to end the losing streak will come on Wednesday when they host Southwest Onslow.
