Alyssa Wrench (6) scores on a kill for Midway on Wedesday.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Midway celebrated its varsity volleyball Senior Night by routing visiting East Central 2-A Conference foe Wallace-Rose Hill in straight sets Wednesday. Individual set scores were 25-7, 25-10 and 25-13.
“We went into the locker room before the game and our team chant was ‘We’re going to do it for the seniors,’” said Midway coach Brandy Wrench. “So, they went out there and that’s what they were doing. We made sure the seniors stayed on the court as much as possible to give them their highlight for the night.”
The Raiders (12-3, 8-2 ECC) excelled at the service line, holding serve for 53 points, including 25 aces. Senior Alexis Jackson had five aces on 12 service points and senior Alyssa Wrench had six aces on nine service points to lead Midway at the line.
“That’s the one thing we’ve been working on is serving,” coach Wrench said. “We served really good last night (a 3-0 win at Spring Creek) and we served good tonight. We’re hoping to keep that running tomorrow night and hopefully Saturday.”
Alyssa Wrench had six kills, one assist, two blocks and seven digs. Caitlyn Holland had three kills, nine assists, seven digs and three aces on nine service points. Jackson had three kills and one dig. Makayla Chavis had three kills, one dig and four aces on six service points. Jordan Wallum had one kill and held serve for one point. Karlee Martin had one assist, one block, three digs and three aces on eight service points. Natalie McPhail had one assist and one dig. Sydney Williams had four assist and one ace on three service points. Erin Barefoot had three aces on six service points.
Prior to the match, Midway honored four seniors: Karlee Martin, Alyssa Wrench, Alexis Jackson and Erin Barefoot.
Midway dominated the Bulldogs (4-15, 2-9) throughout all three sets, highlighted by a combined 10 aces in the first set.
Coach Wrench went to a line-up in the third set that saw the original six on the floor, including all four seniors, stay on the court, rather than making substitutions at certain rotations like normal. This allowed her, when the score reached 20-9, to send the four players on the bench in for the seniors to give the home crowd a chance to cheer for each of them as they left the court.
Midway hosts Goldsboro today (Thursday, Oct. 18) for a Pink-Out game to end the regular season. A win would have the Raiders finishing as conference co-champions with East Duplin. If they finished tied, Midway and East Duplin will meet in a neutral site tiebreaking match at Clinton High School on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. to determine which team gets seeding priority for the NCHSAA 2-A state playoffs.
“It would be a tough game,” coach Wrench said. “East Duplin’s going to come to fight. We’re going to have to come to fight, too. Our key thing is going to be serving for sure and keeping our hits strong.”
Karlee Martin serves an ace for Midway on Wednesday.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Caitlyn Holland (1) delivers a kill in a 3-0 win over Wallace-Rose Hill.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Alexis Jackson serves an ace for Midway on Wednesday.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Makayla Chavis registers a kill in the Raiders’ East Central 2-A victory.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Midway’s volleyball seniors are, from left, Erin Barefoot, Alexis Jackson, Alyssa Wrench and Karlee Martin. (Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
