East Wake volleyball trounces Knightdale, continues GNRC run

The final leg of the regular season got more interesting as East Wake celebrated senior night with a three-set victory (25-21, 25-3, 27-25) over defending Greater Neuse River Conference girls volleyball champion Knightdale.

The win moved the Warriors (11-8 overall, 8-5 GNRC) into a tie with the Knights (10-12) and Harnett Central for second in the conference standings with one match to play.

East Wake coach Keauna Vinson said this was the most important week of the season. The Warriors played like it as they built up a 16-11 lead in game one and then held off a run by Knightdale, which was without injured senior Nia Singletary, the league leader in kills.

With Singletary out, Knightdale had few answers for East Wake senior Angel Rizor and company, who dominated at the net as the Warriors opened the second set with a 10-0 run. At 13-1, the Knights showed signs of concession and the Warriors offered no sympathy in the 22-point rout.

“I told them don’t get too relaxed after the second game,” Vinson said. “I said we’ve got to come out a lot better because they are going to change some things.”

The Knights opened to a 5-0 lead in the final game behind the serve of senior Heaven Jarrell, and led 14-7 before the Warriors started to narrow the gap on the way to a 20-20 tie.

The scoreboard showed four more ties before the Warriors finally ended it on back-to-back kills by Rizor and sophomore McKenzie Moore.

“They brought every piece of energy they had tonight,” said Knightdale coach Ross Fields. “Every error we made, they capitalized on.”

Turning point

With East Wake down by seven points in game three, junior captain Tamira Knuckles had two big kills to help turn the tide back in the Warriors’ favor. Knuckles finished with eight kills in the match along with some solid defensive play at the net.

Three who mattered

Caroline Bell, East Wake: The sophomore had 20 service attempts in the game with two aces. Her serve was key in East Wake winning the first two games.

McKenzie Moore, East Wake: Her serve was instrumental in East Wake’s 10-point run to open game two. She also had a big kill in game three to slow the Knightdale rally.

Lainey Anderson, Knightdale: The freshman setter helped the Knights gain an early lead in game three with an impressive jump serve. She also set the ball well for the Knightdale hitters.

By the numbers

12: The Warriors have upped their consecutive game win streak; the sweep marked East Wake’s fourth in a row.

17: The number of digs by East Wake senior libero Haley Glover. Her defensive performance helped sustain several long rallies.

16: Rizor continued her dominance at the net going 16 for 20 in kills for East Wake. She also had 10 blocks to go along with her power game.

Looking ahead

Missing their No. 1 player didn’t help matters for the Knights. Fields said they would need to learn how to play without their centerpiece. After three straight losses, Knightdale had only a home match against conference leader West Johnston remaining to close out the regular season.

“We are still in control of how we finish,” Fields said. “We just need to control what we can. That’s what we plan to do on Thursday.”

The Warriors hope to continue their win streak as they head to Angier on Thursday to face Harnett Central. According to Vinson, the key will be sticking to what got them this far.

“If we are being aggressive at the net, there is not a team in the conference that is stronger than we are,” Vinson said.

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 11:29 AM with the headline "East Wake volleyball trounces Knightdale, continues GNRC run."