The Lady Dark Horses (11-2) volleyball team continued its unbeaten September run at 5-0, knocking off East Duplin in a 3-0 sweep at home Thursday evening.
Over the course of the month, Clinton has defeated Mintz Christian Academy (twice, 12-3), Pender, South Lenoir and now the Lady Panthers. The Dark Horse girls took control of the first set at 18-13 before building on the lead to close out at 25-17.
With the early advantage, Clinton kept the pressure on East Duplin, getting out front 6-2 in set two. The Lady Panthers managed to close the gap, but the home team didn’t let go of the lead. A kill from Lady Dark Horse junior middle hitter Brittany Britt pushed the lead to 10-6 and was followed by two strong serves from Clinton’s Taylor Strickland to keep the run alive. During the set, the Lady Dark Horses also received strong serves from Maddie Hales, who picked up where Strickland left off with two additional points that were hard for East Duplin to receive. A strong kill showing from Clinton’s Nellie Bass added more points to build the lead for the home side, which won the second set 25-21.
The final set was more of the same for the Lady Dark Horses, as two Bass spikes and a couple of miscues from East Duplin gave Clinton a 4-0 lead. Throughout the set, the home side managed to attack the middle of the floor with hard kills that the Lady Panthers were forced to deal with. East Duplin cut into the Clinton lead later in the set as the Lady Panthers faced an 18-9 deficit. The Lady Panthers went on a 5-1 run to cut Clinton’s lead to just six, then added three additional points throughout the final stretch to keep the comeback attempt alive. The Lady Dark Horses didn’t falter, as they controlled the final few rally points to finish the sweep with a 25-17 win in the final set.
“For us to win against them and sweep them really means a lot to us,” Hales said postgame. “We lost to them my sophomore year in the playoffs, and I’m a senior this year, so it showed me how far our team has come in the past couple of seasons.”
The Lady Dark Horses found part of their success against East Duplin with their serving game.
“I have to look out on their side of the court to see where they’re positioned,” Hales said, describing her mentality during her serves. “Then I try to think about if I needed to go long, or deep, or short based on where they are.”
Over the course of her four years at Clinton, Hales feels that this year’s group might be one of her favorites.
“It feels unreal, honestly. I’ve loved all my teams, but I’ve never loved this team more,” she said. “They mean so much to me. We have no negativity on the team; everyone’s positive and we love each other, so it just means so much to me. It’s breathtaking.”
That mentality has the group focused on a deep postseason run.
“We’re so ready to get past the second round of the playoffs and win that championship,” Hales emphasized. “We’re all so determined and pushing each other to be our very best; everyone wants to be on this team. We want to get past the first two rounds to get there, and it’s going to take a lot of skill. But I think this teamwork that we have, when we push each other to be the best, and nobody gets negative or yells or rolls their eyes, it’s all about the players and the positivity that we have.”
Britt shared similar sentiments about the past loss to East Duplin.
“My freshman year, we beat them at home, and then we played them in the first round of the playoffs, and we lost,” Britt recalled. “That’s just a game I never forgot. I was so frustrated and upset because we were supposed to win that game. Last year we lost to them both times, and this year, it means so much to finally do it. I’m just proud of how we all came together and worked together and did it.”
The overall depth of the team, according to Britt, has contributed to the success the Lady Dark Horses have seen so far this year.
“I think what’s so special about this team is that we’re so deep and skilled,” Britt said. “We have so many good hitters, and they can play each position, and so many good passers that we all just work together this year. There’s so much positivity and cheering the team on that it’s great; I love it.”
The Lady Dark Horses will have another opportunity to defend their home court Tuesday, Sept. 22, against Heide Trask.