By Junious Smith III

GOLDSBORO — The second time was the charm for Eastern Wayne.

The Warriors defeated Greene Central Saturday morning 25-21, 25-14, 25-12 in the school’s Tri-match event. Both teams face Clinton in the afternoon in the Eastern Wayne-hosted event, where the Warriors (1-8) got revenge against the Rams (5-9).

On Sept. 3, Greene Central won 25-10, 23-25, 25-20, 17-25, 15-12 in Snow Hill.

“There was a lot of positivity with this game,” Eastern Wayne coach Anna Hajjar said. “We had a devotion Thursday and Jaiden Waters spoke about patience — we talked about how if this was meant to happen, it will. Our serve and receive game was a lot better, and the girls knew they couldn’t keep being complacent. We have the physical abilities, and it came together today.

“Our captain, Paige Newman, talked about how to have the mentality of the game being over when we get a lead. Statistics show when we have a lead, we do well and we were able to keep the excitement in this game.”

Newman started the game with two service aces as Eastern Wayne jumped out to a 6-1 lead. Macy Sauls’ ace made the score 12-5, but Greene Central went on an 8-0 run — highlighted by a pair of Daly Keel aces — to put the Rams ahead. The teams would trade points, but after an Abigail Burress tied the game at 20 for Greene Central, Eastern Wayne closed the set out on a 5-1 run.

Keel’s ace started the second set, but Eastern Wayne countered with a 12-1, highlighted by a quartet of Chloe Mills aces and kills from Sauls, Kayla Smith and Rayven Smith. The Rams wouldn’t get closer than eight from there.

In the third set, a kill from Ayanna Bynum and a Mills ace sparked Eastern Wayne to a 5-1 lead. Abby Vendemia’s ace brought Greene Central within 5-4, but the Warriors responded with a 9-1 spurt to effectively end the match. Greene Central got within 19-12 on Meredith Warren-Lane’s ace, but Eastern Wayne scored the last six points of the match.

Rams coach Emily Nelson said the team has to rekindle the fire.

“Eastern Wayne wanted it so much more,” Nelson said. “Greene did not come in with the right mindset, and I’m hoping they learn from it and do something different. Sometimes, you have to lose in order to learn how to win.”