Southern Wayne head coach Jamie William’s birthday present arrived a day early as the Saints turned in a great performance against East Wake on Tuesday evening.
Anna Summerlin had a team-high nine kills and five aces, Ta’Niyah Glaspie had eight kills, Allie Lane also served five aces, and Taylor Lee finished with 18 assists as the Saints swept East Wake 25-12, 25-13, 25-16.
The Saints improved to 2-3 overall, and 1-0 in 3A Quad County Conference play.
“I told the girls in the locker room ‘what made the difference was their consistency from the beginning to the end,’” Williams said. “We had a great practice yesterday, and that practice before the game really makes all the difference.
“I’m proud of them because they had their minds set to get it done.”
In the first set, the Saints built up a big lead as East Wake had no answer for the Saints.
Summerlin’s kill midway through the second set gave the Saints a 15-8, but East Wake battled back and remained within striking distance by cutting the Saints’ lead down to 22-17, but the Saints held off the Warriors to win the second set 25-23.
Back-to-back aces from Amya Smith put the Saints up 7-3 in the third set, but East Wake used a 9-3 run to take a 12-10 lead.
“I told the girls during a timeout that ‘we just beat them two sets, the game shouldn’t be tied, and they need to buckle down, focus and get it done,’ and they did that,” Williams said.
However, the Saints never lost their composure and used a 5-0 run, which included an ace from Taylor Lee and a kill from Summerlin, to retake the lead.
Later in the set, Karlie Lane’s kill, three aces from Summerlin, and a kill from Glaspie led to a match-clinching, 7-2 surge.
Southern Wayne entertains West Johnston (6-2, 1-0) on Thursday.
