Lady Scots sweep Union Pines

LAURINBURG —Scotland volleyball returned home from a five-game road trip by avenging a loss earlier this month to conference rival Union Pines on Wednesday night at Scotland High School. The Scots swept the Vikings to improve their record to 14-4 (6-3 in conference games) while the Vikings fall to 10-6 (4-4 vs SAC teams) with the loss. Head Coach Adam Romaine realized the importance of winning this game back at home, even after having to move the game up a day.

“We’re always trying to be the best 3A team and we knew they were the ones in our way,” Romaine said. “The five-game road trip really beat us down physically, mentally and emotionally, we knew we had to pull this one out.”

The first set of the night started out very competitive, with neither team holding a lead of more than one until Scotland went on a 3-0 run to go up 7-4, which was quickly erased by three unanswered points for the Vikings. The Scots then took complete control, getting three in a row and going on an 8-2 surge that put ahead 15-9, leading to a Union Pines timeout. That stoppage did nothing to halt Scotland’s momentum as they continued building up their advantage and won the set 25-16.

The ensuing set was simply put, a wild one. After being knotted at five, the Scots went on an 8-2 run to go up 13-7, resulting in a Union Pines timeout. Also similar to the first set, the timeout did not help the Vikings at all as Scotland went on another 7-2 surge to go up 20-9, resulting in another Union Pines timeout. Unlike their prior two stoppages, the Vikings did respond to this break by somehow managing to climb all the way out of their massive deficit and hold a 22-21 lead. The Scots did however manage to right the ship just in time and take the set by the skin of their teeth 25-23. Romaine admitted to some of the same problems with serve receive that killed his team in the loss to Union Pines earlier this year resurfacing during the set and made the message afterwards simple: don’t do that again.

“We knew they weren’t going to go away and they had some girls that gave us problems up there earlier this year on serve receive,” Romaine said. “After that set I just told them to not let a girl pull that much away from you ever again.”

The final set had many lead changes in the early portion as neither side established any real advantage. The first notable edge held was when Union Pines got four unanswered points to go up 12-8, resulting in a Scotland timeout. After trailing by six, the Scots turned the set around completely, managing to trim the gap down to three at 16-13, leading to the Vikings calling a timeout. The Scots continued rolling out of the break, scoring another five points in a row to go up 18-16 and eventually took the set 25-19 to complete the sweep.

Senior Addison Johnson paced the team in kills with 23 and also added three digs. Freshman Nora Teasley chipped in three blocks and two kills in the win.

Scotland will get a much-needed break with their next game being on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at Lumberton. The Scots swept the Pirates on their home floor way back on Aug. 19. It will be their final nonconference matchup of the regular season. Romaine knows that rest is paramount for his team after having such a difficult stretch of games.

“100% man, the adrenaline is what pushed the girls through this game,” Romaine said. “They will be off Thursday and Friday they need to rest and relax their minds and bodies.”