Hanna kills Rams’ comeback hopes as Pirates beat rivals

LUMBERTON — The first time the Lumberton and Purnell Swett volleyball teams met on Sept. 17, the Pirates won the first two sets before the Rams came roaring back to win the last three and steal the match.

In Thursday’s rematch, Lumberton once again won the first two sets. Purnell Swett took a five-point lead late in the third set, looking like they may once again be in the early stages of a comeback.

But, led by Ava Hanna, the Pirates flipped the script, scoring eight of the last nine points to win the third set and claim the match 3-0.

“It feels good, because I know the first time we should’ve beat them, because we literally beat them the first two sets,” said Hanna, who finished with 15 kills. “I wasn’t doing too good the first two sets, and the score was that close, so I knew I had to lead the front row and finish for the team.”

After the third set was tied 17-17, Purnell Swett (10-9, 6-8 United-8 Conference) used a 5-0 run to take a 22-17 lead. The teams then exchanged the next two points, making it 23-18, before the Pirates (13-9, 8-6 United-8) scored six straight, taking a 24-23 lead on a Hanna kill. The Rams scored the next point to tie it 24-24, but Hanna got two more kills to seal it at 26-24.

“My philosophy is you go down swinging,” Lumberton coach Bryan Hales said. “You’ve got to hit the ball. When you play good teams like that, you can’t dig it all the time; they’ll give it right back to you, so you’ve got to hit it. She stepped up to the plate. She’s the MVP for tonight.”

“We were trying to stay alive, we weren’t fighting to try to get a kill, we were just trying to keep the ball alive,” Purnell Swett coach Corey Deese said. “You can’t play volleyball like that and win.”

The Pirates’ win came in the regular-season finale for both clubs, with Lumberton holding senior night to commemorate the team’s only senior, libero Kaylee Lancaster. She had 10 digs as part of the victory.

“I think we had something to prove, and we just worked better tonight than we did the first night. And it was senior night so I think that brought more energy,” Lancaster said. “Knowing it was my last game, I just wanted to put my all on the court and do everything I could to win for my team.”

“Her attitude and leadership have brought a lot to the team this year, especially with all these freshmen,” Hales said. “We’re going to miss her next year.”

Lancaster was also a big part of the Pirates’ first-set win. Purnell Swett led 11-9 when Lancaster stepped back for her turn serving, and the Pirates used a 15-0 run to take a 24-11 lead; they won the set 25-13.

“We were already down a couple of points, so I wanted to push through and make sure all my serves went over,” Lancaster said. “Because we kept missing serves, so I made sure I was taking my time to make every serve over.”

Lumberton continued the momentum in the second set, quickly taking a 6-1 lead. The Rams closed to 7-3, but once the Pirates extended the lead to 12-4 they maintained no less than a five-point advantage the rest of the set, winning 25-16.

“It’s been an emotional few games since Anileigh (Locklear’s) injury, and trying to put in people,” Deese said. “That’s just a big spot to fill, and it takes several people to fill one person’s shoes, and we’re trying. … Some people just have off nights, and some people had off nights, and some of them decided to have it all at the same time.”

Giselle Leach had 20 kills for the Pirates. Leighann Martin had nine assists and Chloe Campbell had eight; Jaelyn Hammond had 10 digs and two aces.

Pending tiebreakers, Lumberton finished tied for third with Jack Britt in the United-8 and Purnell Swett tied for fifth with Seventy-First in the United-8 standings, with the conference tournament set for next week.

The Pirates enter the tournament at 30th in the RPI rankings for 4A East, which currently leaves them narrowly holding on to one of 32 state playoff spots in the region.

“Going into the playoffs, I think we need to work more as a team and just continue what we did tonight,” Lancaster said. “We played better tonight, so just carrying that on into the games to come.”

The Rams are 39th in the RPI, and will likely need a deep run in the United-8 Tournament to extend their season.

“With the (Anileigh Locklear) injury, and we’ve got some that are going out of town next week, so we’ve brought up some JV (players), basically just to have fun and play,” Deese said. “If they play, I feel like they can compete with anybody, if they just play their game. When they get in their heads and try to do everything on their own, and things like that, it just all falls apart very quickly.”