Warriors sweep Saints in ECC 3A-4A volleyball

By Brandon Davis
Published in Sports on October 16, 2015 1:48 PM

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DUDLEY -- They're not going to a championship, but the Southern Wayne Saints are growing up.

Saints head coach Sarah Robertson couldn't have been more pleased with her team's maturity after a season-ending 13-25, 14-25, 17-25 loss to county rival Eastern Wayne on Thursday afternoon.

"They're definitely a completely different team," Robertson said. "In orientations, they didn't know anything, even the seniors. So, we took (them) from square one and within the space of two months, they completely changed."

The Saints struggled in the first two sets, but scared Eastern Wayne fans in the third set of their Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference match when the Saints got within one point, 7-6.

Eastern Wayne head coach Jackie Lewis called a timeout.

"I tried really hard tonight to let everybody see some playing time," Lewis said. "This was a big game for us, and we have another big game next Tuesday. In that last set, I pulled them in and told them they need to show me why they need to stay on the court."

They showed her.

Senior Naheria Hamilton had two kills, and senior Chelsea Wynn had one kill and a service ace to close the third set. The win sets up a key match with Charles B. Aycock next Tuesday. The winner gets the No. 1 playoff seed from the 3-A portion of the conference.

Hamilton ended the night with seven kills, while sophomore Brianna Autman had three kills and two blocks. Wynn served three aces and had three kills. Senior Daysia Whitney and sophomore Emily Newsome had two aces apiece.

Southern Wayne's Katelyn Williams had five kills, and Faith Gurley had three kills. Lauren O'Neil had two aces. Gurley and Macayla Tyndall shared one block apiece.

"We had to finish above D.H. Conley or Eastern Wayne to get into the playoffs," Robertson said. "So, we are actually done for our season.

"As long as it showed growth, that was what I was looking for. I wasn't looking for the conference championship. I was looking for growth and I got it."