Raiders top HC in volleyball

by John Lucas | Sep 12, 2019 | Articles, Midway

Midway’s Maranda Byrd makes a dig in Wednesday’s match.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Midway’s varsity volleyball team rebounded from having a four-match win streak snapped at East Duplin on Tuesday by beating visiting Harnett Central 3-1 on Wednesday by scores of 25-21, 23-25, 25-11 and 25-14.

“They’ve played with a lot of energy, so that’s a plus,” said Midway coach Brandy Wrench. “We went to East Duplin yesterday and lost. So, with that one your mind, you aren’t going to take two. So, they really said that they were going to play hard tonight. We had a little here and there with not filling in those holes and not getting the blocks that we needed, which hurt us in the second set.”

Harnett Central coach Jason Harrell said the Trojans had too many self-inflicted wounds.

“Errors. Mistakes,” coach Harrell said. “We’re in a rut right now where we’re just making too many mistakes when we have opportunities to get out of serve receive and we don’t capitalize on them. It comes back to hurt us and the little things make big things. When you make the ticky-tack errors, they just add up. It seemed like each set we dug ourselves a hole. And Midway played well. We just started trying to play when it was too late.”

The match was also used as a benefit and fundraiser with Midway collecting donations for two students, Ethan Myers and Evan Faircloth, who have been undergoing treatments at UNC Medical Center for severe illnesses. Midway wore light blue shirts during warmups and both teams wore blue ribbons for the event.

Senior Caitlyn Holland recorded a triple-double, with 10 kills, 15 assists, 16 digs and five aces on 14 service points, to lead the Raiders (5-2).

Jordan Wallum had nine kills, one assist, 11 digs and one ace on six service points. Makayla Chavis had seven kills, one block and three digs. Emma Clark had five kills, one block, four digs and two aces on five service points. Maranda Byrd had four kills, two assists, 24 digs and two aces on nine service points. Makenzi Hudson had three kills, one assist, three blocks and one dig. Allison Belflowers had two kills and one assist. Sydney Williams had one kill, 20 assists, 10 digs and four aces on 16 service points. Chloe Baggett had one kill and two digs. Natalie McPhail had one kill, one dig and two aces on three service points. Taylor Williams had four digs and three aces on four service points.

Junior Harper Howell had eight kills, and 20 assists, sophomore Ivanna Jones had seven kills and senior Alexis Gordon had 20 digs to lead the Trojans (1-6).

Carlee Harrell had three kills, 13 assists, seven digs and one ace on eight service points. Jones had one assist and five digs. Lauryn Waddell had two kills, two blocks and three digs. Syniah McMiller had two kills, two blocks and two digs. Gordon had five assists and one ace on seven service points. Laurie Blackwell had one assist and three digs and held serve for five points. Madeline Langdon had one block, five digs and one ace on three service points. Howell had one block and two aces on six service points. Kayla Sadowski had seven digs and held serve for one point.

The first two sets were close, with each team winning a set. But Midway dominated the third and fourth sets to take the match.

Midway returns to East Central 2-A Conference play against visiting Spring Creek (1-6) on Thursday. Harnett Central opens Tri-County Six 3-A Conference play against defending conference champion Union Pines (9-1) on Tuesday.