Lady Flyers Too Much for Cougars in Conference Opener

The Lady Flyers warmed up at Central Carolina Community College Tuesday evening before the first of three road matches in a period of five days like a team that was relishing the challenge.

"We didn't have a practice this morning so we were really energetic and ready for the game," freshman Leah Salzwedel said afterward.

In the first Region X match of the season the Flyers (4-4) jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the first set and cruised to a 25-10, 25-20 and 25-20 victory. A 6 p.m. date at Guilford Tech on Thursday will be followed by a 1 p.m. conference match at Rockingham CC on Saturday.

Following the one-sided first set the Lady Flyers came from behind to win the next two. Morgan McCarthy had three kills as they overcame a 16-11 deficit in the second. Paige Garner was set up for kills by former North Moore High School teammates Cheyenne Brown and Salzwedel three times down the stretch to help complete the sweep.

An all-conference setter at North Moore, Salzwedel has been primarily a defensive specialist for the Flyers. She was credited with eight assists Tuesday, operating smoothly as the setter during the third set. Brown, who earned second team All-Region X honors last season at the position, finished with 13.

"Paige and I played together in middle school and high school so I'm pretty comfortable with her," Salzwedel says.

Flyers' head coach Alicia Riggan added: "Cheyenne is doing a great job, but it's nice in games like this to be able to let Leah set and kind of build for the future."

McCarthy led the Flyers in kills with nine and had only two errors in 16 total attack attempts. She also recorded seven digs. Sharing the middle blocker position with Garner, she is third on the team behind Garner and Chandler Adams in kills.  Her strong serving, defensive and passing ability make her one of the team's most versatile players.

"I've definitely worked harder and thought about placement a lot more," McCarthy says of her progress as a hitter. "The more I do it the easier it gets. I loved the energy we put out there tonight."

Everyone played and nine of the 11 Lady Flyers saw action in all three sets.

"It was a big win to open up the conference," Riggan said. "The second and third sets were a little closer, but we've been practicing being down and coming back. It is great to see different people stepping up each game.

"It's going to be like this from here on out playing three or four games a week."

According to the latest NJCAA Division III statistics, Erica Groff is second in the nation in digs per set (6.83) and Brown is eighth in assists per set (8.34).

C. Bergmann

Photo by: Donna Ford