Central moves to 5-0 in All American volleyball

by | Sep 14, 2022 | Harnett Central

Central’s Carlie Love (5) sets for Mya Lewis (18) against Overhills.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Harnett Central’s varsity volleyball team improved to 5-0 in All American 3-A/4-A Conference play with a 3-0 win over visiting Harnett County rival Overhills by scores of 25-12, 25-21 and 25-16 on Tuesday.

“The girls are working hard in practice and working with everybody playing different positions at different times,” said Harnett Central coach Ashley Gaines. “They’re all comfortable wherever I put them. It’s really nice that I have 12 players that I feel confident putting out there in just about any position and they’re going to play it and they’re going to play it hard. They might make an error here or there, but they’re going to make up that error and come back and give it 110 percent.”

Ava Faucette had eight kills and two blocks and Carlie Love had a double-double, with 22 assists and 10 digs, to lead the Trojans (5-6, 5-0 AAC).

Gaines was pleased with Central’s performance at the service line, led by one ace on 13 service points from Love and three aces on eight service points from Ashley Bliven.

“We probably spend close to 30 minutes every day in practice doing some kind of serving drill,” Gaines said. “Whether we’re doing serve receive to one another or we’re just flat out serving to spots. They have to serve to spots every day. They have to make so many serves in a certain amount of time. They have to have a certain number of perfect passes out of serve receive. They’re constantly working on their serve, so they know that serving is going to be our strong point.”

Savannah Bain had six kills, two digs and one ace on eight service points. Mya Lewis had four kills and held serve for one point. Kelsey Cofield had two kills and four digs. Ansley Pyland had two kills. Cayleigh Hughes had one kill, four digs and three aces on six service points. Victoria Langdon had one kill and two digs. Allie Williams had one assist, 10 digs and one ace on four service points. Love had one block. Bliven had six digs. Faucette had four digs. Elle Gardner had two digs and one ace on three service points.

“All five hitters that started tonight: Mya Lewis, Savannah Bain, Ava Faucette, Ansley Pyland and Kelsey Cofield are stepping up,” Gaines said. “They want the ball and if they are not getting the kill the first time they touch the ball, they want to know what they’re doing wrong because they want to be better. They’re striving to be the best hitter out there all the time.”

Grayson Morris had four kills, Alexandria Williams had three kills and Jayleen Barco Cruz had 11 assists, one block, eight digs and two aces on six service points to lead the Jaguars (5-4, 3-2).

Hayden Poole had two kills, eight digs and three aces on six service points. Christa Hull had two kills and one dig and held serve for one point. Carolynn Montague had one kill and one dig. Makayla Owens had seven digs and one ace on two service points. Alexandria Williams had five digs and four aces on four service points. Isabel Jimenez had five digs. Karmyangelee Ortiz Neris and Tatiyana Stevenson had three digs apiece. Morris had two digs and held serve for two points.

Central opened the match on a 6-0 run and controlled the entire first set.

Overhills jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the second set before Central rallied with a 10-5 run to tie the set. Later holding a 20-18 lead, Central finished the set with a 5-3 run.

The third set resembled the first, with Central opening on a 7-1 run and controlling the entire set.

Harnett Central has a nonconference match at home against Union Pines (7-3) on Wednesday before traveling to conference opponent Pine Forest (6-6, 5-0) on Thursday, with the winner taking sole possession of first place in the conference standings. Overhills is at conference and county rival Triton (6-5, 4-1) on Thursday.

Cayleigh Hughes serces an ace for Harnett Central on Tuesday.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Savannah Bain of Harnett Central gets a kill in a 3-0 win against Overhills. (Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Grayson Morris goes up for a kill for the visiting Jaguars on Tuesday.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Ansley Pyland puts away a point as the Trojans moved to 5-0 in league play.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Jayleen Barco Cruz serves an ace for Overhills on Tuesday.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Overhills’ Karmyangelee Ortiz Neris (6) dives for a dig.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Christa Hull swings for a kill for Overhills.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

DunnAreaSports@gmail.com

Sponsors

WCKB Gospel 780 AM - 102.7 FM

“For The Boys”

– Tom Double

John Lucas
Sports
Photography