VikingRaidersVolleyball

Volleyball: Vikings defeat Raiders 3-0


Northern Vance coach April Abbott got to experience a different side of the Northern-Southern rivalry Tuesday at Raider Gymnasium.

Abbott, a 2003 Southern graduate, was on the opposite sideline from the Raiders this time, guiding her new team to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-22) win.

Abbott helped lead Southern to a state title in 2002 and spent the last three years coaching at Henderson Middle School.

“Hopefully one day we can have a banner up at Northern for a state championship,” said the first-year Vikings coach. “The weird part is seeing so many familiar faces that I’ve already coached and trying to keep my demeanor between the two sides.

“I don’t want to be overly enthusiastic for the other group, but I do want them to know I still care about them. It was a good reunion, I guess that’s what you would call it.”

Northern improves to 2-3 in Carolina 3A play while Southern is still searching for its first conference win.

Despite their struggles this season, the Raiders were competitive in every game.

“Northern Vance is always one of those games,” said Southern coach Tracey Turner. “It doesn’t matter what sport it is or what kind of season either team is having, when it comes to that night, you’re probably going to see different teams.”

The Vikings broke a deadlock at 12 in the final set by rallying for four straight points, capped by two service points from Natalie Reavis. A Northern block made it 19-13, the largest lead of the set.

A Kiyanna Kearney kill pulled the Raiders within three points and an out-of-bounds hit from Northern cut the Vikings’ lead down to two.

Consecutive aces from Katie Wilson gave Northern a 24-19 lead before Southern made one final charge. Meagan Hight’s block narrowed the gap to 24-22 before Becca Esquivel assisted on a Hannah Thompson kill to end the match.

“As a whole, the game was kind of slow,” said Abbott. “It felt slow, point by point. It wasn’t very exciting.”

Turner was pleased with her team’s effort in the final frame.

“By no means did they give up or give in,” she said. “I thought they stayed focused. I’m proud of them. They pulled together as a team.”

Northern pulled away from a close set in Game 2 with three straight kills from Thompson to make it 21-14.

“I don’t think they set her anywhere near as much as they wanted to,” Turner said of defending the Vikings’ powerful outside hitter. “But they’re also a very good defensive team. They’re great defenders and kept it coming back at us.”

Northern led 24-17 before Southern got three straight points. A Raider serving fault ended the game and gave the Vikings the 2-0 match lead.

Leading Northern statistically were Thompson (eight kills, 20 digs, two aces), Wilson (four blocks, three kills, two aces), Reavis (22 digs, five aces), and Kaylin Owen (eight kills, nine digs).

Leading Southern were Kearney (nine receptions, nine digs, three kills, two blocks), Hight (one ace, two kills, two blocks), Amber Edwards (two aces, 13 receptions, eight digs, two kills), Morgan Adcock (11 receptions, 13 digs, two kills), Brittany Bishop (five receptions, seven digs, three assists), and Jordan Abbott (seven digs, one kill, four assists).

Turner was particularly impressed with the play of Edwards.

“I thought she played a great game,” she said. “She did a great job at covering. Hitting the ball, she did great and also serving.”

The Raiders jumped out to a 4-0 lead to begin the first set and led late, 20-17. The Vikings tied the game on a long rally and took the lead on a block.

“Game 1, I felt like they were getting their jitters out because of the whole Northern-Southern rivalry,” said Abbott.

Southern tied the set at 21, but Northern took four of the next five points. Wilson and Owen combined on a block to win the game’s final point.

“It set the pace, but to have played it so close and so well, I think it still left a flip of the coin as far as who still had the momentum at the end,” Turner said.

Turner’s Raiders are back in action Thursday at J.F. Webb. The Warriors swept Southern in the teams’ last outing. Northern looks to even its conference record on the road at Orange Thursday.

Contact the writer at kholtzman@hendersondispatch.com.

Read more: [|The Daily Dispatch - Vikes get the sweep]