After winning back-to-back matches on the road, the Clinton Lady Horses volleyball team returned home on Tuesday to face off in a conference match against East Duplin. They fell to the Panthers, 3-0.
Though the Horses played tough, the loss was pivotal for Clinton as this game determined who would have control of second place in the conference.
“I’m proud of the way our girls hung in there,” said CHS coach Jennifer Edgerton. “We didn’t know how they played since this was our first time ever playing them. Now that we’ve seen what they can do, we’ll be ready for them next time.”
The lack of knowledge and unfamiliarity with how the Panthers play showed in the game as the Horses lost in three straight sets. It wasn’t all bad as the Dark Horses got progressive better as each set went on, giving them things to build off of for their next meeting.
East Duplin came out and really controlled the pace of the first set, though the Horses had its share of errors the Panthers were able to play their game all night. They took the first set convincingly, 25-13.
The second set was more of the same, Clinton made less mistakes but it was still all East Duplin taking set two pretty handily, 25-14.
The final set of the night is where the Horses started adapting and making plays. Clinton went ahead early taking a 4-2 lead as it looked like they finally found something that was working. The Panthers made adjustments of their own and was able to get control over the game closing out the night in set three 25-19.
Despite the loss, Jasmine Ford had an outstanding night finishing with 11 kills, eight solo blocks and two aces being the most productive player for the Horses.
Taylor Spell and Addie Sessoms also played exceptionally well. Spell led in kills as she amassed 17 with her five digs and Sessoms was right on her hills ending with 15 kills of her own. Naomi Miller led them in digs ending the match with eight.
With this loss the Dark Horses fall to 6-7 over and 3-2 in the conference, they have another conference match at home on Thursday hosting the James Kenan Tigers.