Union’s girls traveled to powerhouse Pender Tuesday night and came away with a trade in wins. The JV Spartans won in three — 25-17; 13-25; 11-25 — and the varsity fell in three — 17-25; 10-25; 18-25.

Coach Dana Strickland said the junior varsity started out slow but came around in the second set. “They weren’t the team I’m used to seeing in that first game, but I think the shock of losing it turned them around and they started playing like I know they can play.

The JV moves to 7-2 in the conference.

The varsity, on the other hand, showed promise, particularly in the first set, but lacked the consistency to garner the win.

Strickland said in the second set one of Pender’s players had a jump serve that rattled the Spartan girls. She served, the coach, said, about 10 straight points without a return from the Sampson team.

“And just like that, with no return serves, the game is like 13-2, and we couldn’t catch up,” Strickland said.

Like in the first, the Spartans started to come back in the third game, but they couldn’t pull out the win.

“I’ll say this, they never quit tonight, and that’s a good thing. I am continuing to see some things that I like from the varsity. Of course, there is still a lot I see that I don’t like, too. But we’re going to keep plugging away,” Strickland said.

Union travels to Hobbton Thursday for a cross-county match. Game time is 4:30 p.m.