Flyers Sweep Tri-Match

The 11th-ranked Sandhills Flyers picked up two convincing victories on Saturday, September 14th, 2024, defeating the Rockingham Community College Eagles and the Pitt Community College Bulldogs. The Flyers (15-4, 1-0 Region 10) kicked off the day with a commanding 3-0 win over the Eagles (0-2, 0-1 Region 10), with set scores of 25-1, 25-3, and 25-7. Rockingham's 11 total points were the fewest allowed by the Flyers in a match this season. Sandhills dominated from the start, holding the Eagles scoreless until late in the first set when Rockingham finally broke a 20-0 Flyers run. From there, Sandhills eased to a set win. The second set followed a similar pattern, with the Flyers going on several large scoring runs while stifling any offensive efforts by Rockingham. Up 2-0, the Flyers found themselves trailing early in the third set. However, any hope Rockingham had of turning things around was quickly extinguished by Sandhills' defense. The Flyers shook off the slow start and closed out the set to complete the sweep. "Yeah, I mean, it's a great start in the region. The girls were really excited. We've played a lot of games, and it's exciting to be home again in the Hangar hosting our first region game," Flyers head coach Alicia Riggan said. "I was excited to see how fast the girls played and executed. We just have to make sure we stay focused moving forward. It was a great opportunity to get all our players in and give them more touches than we have been." Caroline Bradford led the way with seven kills, while Kristin Dodds and Katelyn Bunting each recorded five. Mariana Clayton tallied 13 assists, with Zoey Hall adding nine and Sydney Garner five. On defense, Nikki Lambert led with four digs, while Bradford and Clayton each contributed two. Seven different Flyers recorded at least one dig. At the service line, every player scored at least one point, contributing to the team's total of 30 service points.

In their second match of the tri-match, the Flyers faced the Pitt Community College Bulldogs (5-3). After dropping the first set in a tight 25-27 battle, the Flyers stormed back to win the next three sets in dominant fashion, with scores of 25-6, 25-6, and 25-6. The opening set was a back-and-forth contest, with both teams trading points until Pitt closed out the final two points to take a 1-0 lead. However, the momentum quickly shifted in Sandhills' favor, as the Flyers jumped out to early leads in the next three sets and never looked back, holding the Bulldogs to just six points in each of those sets. Bradford once again led the Flyers' offensive attack with 12 kills, followed by Cassidy Jewett and Dodds with 10 each. Jenna Luquer also contributed six kills. Clayton recorded 26 assists, while Hall added 16, and Garner chipped in with six. Defensively, Lainey Mullins recorded 15 digs, with Bradford adding 11 and Lambert and Clayton each contributing 10. The Flyers combined for four blocks at the net and 47 total service points. The Flyers will step out of Region 10 play on Tuesday when they travel to Raleigh, N.C., for a matchup against Wake Tech Community College. The match is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Z. Ciboth