RICHMOND COUNTY — The Hamlet and Rockingham middle school volleyball teams officially started their 2019 seasons Monday, both sweeping their respective Southeastern Middle School Athletic Conference opponents.
Lady Red Rams earn two wins over Ellerbe
HAMLET — After a strong pre-season, Hamlet and head coach Alex Gardner welcomed Ellerbe Middle School in for a pair of matches to begin conference play. The Lady Red Rams would win both matches in the double-header against the Lady Wildcats.
Hamlet won the first match by sets scores of 25-14 and 25-11, followed by a second match victory of 25-17 and 25-8. In the two combined matches, the Lady Red Rams would string together 41 total aces from the serving line.
Eighth grader Katie Way was the leader in aces, knocking a match-high 16 aces, while also adding three kills at the net. Fellow eighth graders Ryelan Lyerly and Jenna Gardner chipped in with 10 and eight aces, respectively.
Christi Jacobs finished the two matches with three aces and two kills on four attempts. Orena Drake had two kills, Emma Altman served two aces, Addyson Hollingsworth and Keelan Fisher each had one ace and Paige Goodman tallied a kill.
No stats were reported for Ellerbe. Hamlet started the season 2-0, 2-0 SEMSAC, while Ellerbe fell to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in SEMSAC play. The Lady Red Rams will be back in action at in-county opponent Cordova Middle School on Thursday at 4 p.m., while Ellerbe will travel to Rockingham.
Lady Rockets blast past Anson Orange
ROCKINGHAM — The Lady Rockets and head coach Teresa Mason also made quick work of their season-opening opponents, blanking the Anson Middle School Orange 2-0 in both of their matches on Monday.
Playing at home, Rockingham took the first match in straight sets 25-5 and 25-12, and closed the day with a second match victory of 25-9 and 25-21.
Leading scorers for Mason’s team were eighth grader Keyoni Nichols (30 points), seventh grader Jamyia Lindsey (18 points) and eighth grader Allie Rodgers (16 points). Also earning double digit points in the win were Makailah Jackson (15 points) adnd JNasia Neal (12 points).
Other contributors for Rockingham were Carolina Gonzalez (four points), Zoey Herberg (three points) and Ella Scott (two points). The Lady Rockets (2-0, 2-0 SEMSAC) will host Ellerbe on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Head coaches Alex Gardner and Teresa Mason contributed to this story. To submit local middle school scores, email sports editor Kyle Pillar at kpillar@richmondobserver.com.
