Box Score
Charlotte, N.C.—The
North Greenville volleyball team saw its season end on Wednesday night as the
Crusaders fell to the Queens Royals 3-1 (26-22, 22-25, 22-25, 14-25) in the
semifinals of the Conference Carolinas Tournament.
The Crusaders
came out strong in set one, and after trading points, pulled ahead and took
control at 8-5. North Greenville’s biggest lead of the game came when Rebekah
Mayes’ kill landed between defenders giving NGU a 15-10 advantage. North
Greenville held the advantage until late in the match when Queens put together
a three-point surge that gave the Royals a 24-23 lead. An arrant serve tied the
match at 24 for NGU. Yomi Adeyeye followed the service error up with two
straight kills to give the Crusaders a set one win.
Set two was
closely contested as well, as both teams opened the frame matching point for
point. The Crusaders looked poised to pull ahead comfortably for a second
straight set, taking a 12-9 lead. With the game tied 16-16 the Royals
were able to finally pull away on a Lindsey Everhart
kill followed by a block by Keri Kemp.
The Royals maintained a lead for the rest of the match, with Kemp ending it
with a kill to tie the set score at one a piece.
The Royals got off to a quick start in the third set taking
a 12-5 advantage over NGU. Queens led by as many as seven (20-13) in the third
frame, but the Crusaders regrouped, and out of a timeout stormed back to pull
to within three of the top seeded Royals. Rebekah Mayes collected an ace during
the comeback while Samantha Del Toro snapped off one of her 10 kills. The
Royals responded with three straight kills of their own to take the set and a
2-1 lead.
The fourth frame mirrored the starts from the first two sets
of the night, as the teams traded points deadlocking the tally at eight early
on. Queens would capitalize on two straight kills, which opened a 7-2 run,
giving the Royals a comfortable 16-10 cushion. The Royals would go on to take
the match in a comfortable fashion 25-14 setting them up for a showdown with
neighboring Belmont Abbey in Saturday’s Conference Carolinas Tournament finals.
Rebekah Mayes finished the night leading the Crusaders with
14 kills. Mayes finished the season as the leader with 417 kills to lead the
team. Senior Abigail Frame, who finished her career at NGU as the all time
leading setter, registered a double-double in her final game in red and black,
with 37 assists and 20 digs, leading the teams in both categories. Freshman
Megan Steading also had double digit digs with 10 while Madison Allen led the
Crusaders with two service aces.North Greenville finished the season with a 19-16 record
overall and a 9-8 conference record.
