By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
The Washington volleyball team continued to struggle on Tuesday as it dropped three straight games and the match to New Bern losing 25-17, 25-7, 25-16.
The Pam Pack (0-6) fought hard in the first game and were tied at nine a piece midway through the game after a Samantha Smith kill. After Smith’s spike Washington went on a 5-2 run but could not sustain the momentum.
Down 14-11, the Bears’ Alex Wollup took the ball and served six straight service points to lead New Bern to an 18-14 lead.
Danielle Ellsworth put the finishing touches on the Pam Pack as her two aces led the Bears on 6-3 run to close out the game 25-17.
After a sub par first game, Washington collapsed in the second game falling 25-7. Miscommunication plagued the Pam Pack all day, as the team botched several New Bern serves and struggled to set up its attack. On plenty of occasions the Pack either all ran to the ball and didn’t know who was going to hit it, or nobody ran to the ball and it just dropped to the floor.
Washington coach Michelle Cetner said communication is the team’s number one issue.
Behind the serving of Jessica Kingman, the Bears opened up the second match on a 8-1 run. Kingman took over with a 3-1 lead, and on the strength of three aces extended New Berns’ lead to 8-1.
The play of Smith and Blake Wolfe up front helped the Pam Pack pick up a few points throughout the match as they cut the Bears’ lead to 12-6. However, Washington failed to generate any offense from there as they were out-scored 13-1 for the rest of the game.
Though it picked up its scoring in the third game, Washington still could not sustain long stretches of points and fell 25-16.
New Bern’s Lean Perez came off the bench to play middle hitter for the Bears and did a solid job on both sides of the ball.
The Bears’ also got a lift from Holly Lafond and Darisa Swindell. Lafond nailed four straight aces at the beginning of the game to take a 5-3 lead, while Swindell’s jump serve was good for three straight aces later in the match.
Washington’s Smith dropped three consecutive aces on the Bears’ herself, but it was too little too late.
Cetner said she was pleased with the effort of Smith after the match.
The Pam Pack’s next match will be Thursday at Havelock.