Clayton volleyball stays unbeaten, downs West Johnston in five
BENSON The battle for first place in the conference definitely lived up to its billing.
Clayton took the best shot from a county rival for the second straight day, outlasting host West Johnston, 25-15, 20-25, 25-10, 11-25, 15-12, to extend its record season-beginning volleyball win streak to 13 matches and improve to 5-0 in Greater Neuse River 4A play.
West, which had beaten the Comets twice last season en route to the conference championship, fell to 9-2 and 4-1 after having a six-match win streak snapped.
“I thought after going five sets against Cleveland (on Monday), we might be worn out tonight,” Clayton coach Marlon Lee said. “That’s why we had one of the hardest practices we ever had on Friday. We ran and ran and ran and used the medicine balls to get ready for moments like this.
“I told the girls we’d go through some adversity, but we had to be strong. And we beat a very good team today.”
TURNING POINT
The final four points of the last set, in which Clayton freshman Maya Gray had three kills including the tip for the clinching point.
THEY SAID IT
“We had a rough first set, but we came back and won the second which speaks a lot about how our girls can handle adversity,” West’s second-year coach Meredith Blake said. “We just need to cover tips better and be smarter with our ball placement. But we know we’ll see Clayton again. At least once.”
THREE TO KNOW
Maya Gray, middle blocker, Clayton: The freshman led the Comets in kills.
“This was a tough match, especially after the way West kept coming back,” Gray said. “After the fourth set Coach told us the main thing we had to do was pick up our intensity.”
Abby Barbour, outside hitter, West Johnston: The senior led all scorers in kills.
“This one was fun,” Barbour said. “This is what volleyball is all about. We didn’t win, but we played great. We just gave up too many points in the beginning.”
Bailey Perdue, outside hitter, Clayton: Had a run of five serves including an ace to give the Comets control of the third set.
“It was kind of like yesterday’s match,” Perdue said. “We just tried to come out harder than they did. We’ve been practicing so hard to get ready for matches like this. This was championship volleyball.”
BY THE NUMBERS
5: The longest serving streak by any player, accomplished by Clayton’s Cayli Sutton, Auburn Morgan and Perdue and West’s Barbour and Madison Greene.
8: Times the score was tied in the fifth set.
9: Kills each by Gray and teammate Ally Felix.
10: Times the score was tied in the second set.
14: West’s biggest lead in the fourth set.
15: Kills by Barbour.
LOOKING AHEAD
The rematch is on Oct. 6 in Clayton.
Clayton travels to Rolesville on Thursday before taking on Southeast Raleigh on Tuesday.
West hosts Garner on Thursday.
“Today was really exciting, but it was disappointing at the end,” West junior co-captain Tessa Starkweather said. “I think our adrenaline was pretty high. In the sets we won, we covered better than in the ones we lost. We just need to be a little more consistent.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2016 at 10:12 AM with the headline "Clayton volleyball stays unbeaten, downs West Johnston in five."