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Maiden High’s Kylie Morgan (right, in blue) cleared 1,000 career kills on Tuesday night, leading the Blue Devils to a South Fork 2A victory over North Lincoln./PHOTO COURTESY OF ERNIE MASCHE.
Kylie Morgan had 19 kills, clearing 1,000 for her career, as Maiden High beat visiting North Lincoln 3-1 on Tuesday night to take over second place in South Fork 2A volleyball.
Morgan added 11 digs, Abbey Smith had 11 kills and Faith Herman posted 48 assists and eight aces as Maiden won 25-20, 28-26, 22-25, 28-26.
The Blue Devils, who had lost at North Lincoln 3-2 in early September, improved to 9-2 in the conference. They are two games back of first-place East Lincoln with three South Fork 2A matches to go.
North Lincoln is in third place at 8-3.
Maiden travels to East Lincoln on Thursday for a key league match that begins at 6 p.m., while North Lincoln will be at home the game night, also at 6 p.m., to play Newton-Conover.
The conference schedule continues through next week with two additional matches heading into the South Fork 2A tournament, scheduled to begin on Oct. 16 with first-round matches at the highest seeds.
The tournament semifinals and championship are at Maiden on Oct. 17 and Oct. 18, respectively.
East Lincoln 3, Bandys 1
At Bandys, the Mustangs moved closer to a South Fork 2A title by winning 25-13, 19-25, 25-23, 25-15.
Caitlin Styles had seven kills, four blocks and four digs to lead Bandys.
At 10-0, East Lincoln can clinch the league title – and its No. 1 league tournament seed – by beating Maiden at East Lincoln on Thursday night at 6 p.m., and the Blue Devils would then trail the Mustangs by three matches with two to go.
Bandys fell to 6-5 in the conference and is in fourth place heading into a non-conference match at South Caldwell on Wednedsay.
The Trojans play Thursday at 6 p.m. in a league match against West Lincoln on the road.
Watauga 3, St. Stephens 0
Watauga won a Northwestern 3A-4A match at home, inching closer to the conference title, behind Rebekah Farthing, Brooke Byrd and Grace Hayes.
The Pioneers, 10-0 in the conference, won 25-21, 26-24, 25-22 as Farthing posted 12 kills and 12 digs, Byrd had 17 kills and 13 digs and Hayes had 19 digs and 30 assists.
Grace Hagaman added 17 digs for the Pioneers.
Watauga’s lead in the conference race is two matches over second-place Alexander Central with three matches to go. St. Stephens fell to 7-4 in the league and is a game back of third-place Hickory.
The Pioneers can clinch at least a title share on Thursday at 6 p.m. if they win at McDowell or if St. Stephens defeats Alexander Central on Thursday night in Hickory.
Hickory 3, West Caldwell 0
The Red Tornadoes won 25-9, 25-11, 25-10 on the road in a Northwestern 3A-4A match. They are in third place, a game back of Alexander Central and they’re three games back of league-leading Watauga.
Hickory faces South Caldwell at Hickory on Thursday at 6 p.m. in a league match, and West Caldwell goes to Freedom the same night for a 5:30 p.m. start to a conference match.
Alexander Central 3, McDowell 0
The Cougars won on the road and are in second place in the Northwestern 3A-4A after winning 25-17, 25-14, 25-13.
Alexander Central goes to St. Stephens for a league match Thursday at 6 p.m. while McDowell is at home the same night, also at 6 p.m., to face Watauga.