Jordyn Neighbors makes a kill for Western Harnett on Tuesday.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Western Harnett stunned Triton on Tuesday by taking a 3-1 Tri-County Six 3-A Conference varsity volleyball win at Triton by scores of 26-24, 21-25, 25-22 and 28-26, breaking a losing streak to the Hawks that lasted over two decades.
“It’s been a really long time,” said Western Harnett coach Hallie Hales. “It’s the first time in the five years I’ve been at Western. I know how bad I wanted it and the girls wanted it. We’re young and mentally, the game can kick our butts. We struggle with that. I think things got closer than they maybe should have in different parts of the game. We’ve got to get to a stronger place mentally and I think this team can do some big things, because I’ve got some athletes that I haven’t seen in years.”
Mistakes were costly for Triton.
“Too many errors,” said Triton coach Wendy Simmons. “In different sets it was different things. Our passing was really bad. Serving errors, I don’t even know how many we had (21 total). We just fell short in a lot of areas tonight. We’ve just got to go back into practice tomorrow and see what we can get done.”
Senior Jordyn Neighbors, junior Makyia Mackey and sophomore Makenya Mackey had eight kills apiece to lead the Eagles (2-8, 2-1 TCSC) at the net. Neighbors, with 14 digs, and Makenya Mackey, with 13 digs, also led Western defensively.
Junior setter Lindsey Worrell recorded a double-double for Western, with 24 assists, 10 digs and five aces on eight service points.
“She’s not your typical setter, but she gives me all that she’s got and that’s all you can ask for,” Hales said.
Gracie Olive had three kills, one assist, seven digs and one ace on seven service points. Jada Byrd had two kills and two digs. Makyia Mackey had two assists, one block, three digs and one ace on four service points. Makenya Mackey had one block and four aces on five service points. Erin Kelly had seven digs and two aces on 17 service points. Logan Holmes had five digs and held serve for three points.
“Our defense has played very well the last few games,” Hales said. “Offensively, we weren’t where we needed to be at first and they kind of got there.”
Junior Bethany Norris had 14 kills and senior Evie Pollard had a double-double, with 10 kills and 19 digs, to lead the Hawks (6-8, 1-2).
Leah Brannon had eight kills, 10 digs and one ace on 10 service points. Breonna McNeill had five kills, two blocks and one dig. Grace Wilson had four kills, one assist, three digs and two aces on six service points. Gracyn Slaughter had two kills, two assists and 12 digs and held serve for three points. Breigh Hobbs had one kill, 39 assists, eight digs and one ace on eight service points. Maddie Stephens had 10 digs and one ace on two service points. Sydney Morrison had six digs. Norris had one dig and two aces on three service points. Madeline Scott had one dig and held serve for one point. Chelby Pascale had one ace on six service points.
Triton was without senior Tyler Grace Gamblin, who suffered an ankle injury at Midway on Monday.
All four sets were close, with two going to extra points.
With the first set tied at 24, Western took the set with a Neighbors kill, assisted by Worrell, and a Makenya Mackey ace.
With the second set tied at 20, Triton finished the set with a 5-1 run, capped by a Wilson kill, assisted by Hobbs.
The third set was tied at 22 when Western finished on a 3-0 run, including two Makenya Mackey kills, both assisted by Worrell, and a Worrell ace.
Triton twice held set point late in the fourth, but squandered both with service errors. With the score tied at 26, a service error, an error and a Makyia Mackey kill, assisted by Worrell, ended the match.
Triton took a 2-0 win in the junior varsity match.
Both teams continue conference play at home on Thursday, with Triton hosting conference leader Union Pines and Western Harnett hosting Lee County.
Makenya Mackey puts a point away for the Eagles at Triton.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Evie Pollard (2) makes a hit for a point for the Hawks.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Lindsey Worrell (15) sets for teammate Gracie Olive (right).
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Maddie Stevens makes a dig for the host Hawks.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Gracyn Slaughter extends to make a dig for host Triton.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Erin Kelly (8) of the Eagles serves an ace in Tuesday’s win.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
