CHOCOWINITY — Washington couldn’t capitalize on a strong start as it dropped three straight matches after winning the first one to fall 20-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-11 to Southside on Thursday.
The Seahawks (2-0, Four Rivers Conference, 1A) did not have the size up front to combat the Pam Pack (1-3, Coastal Conference, 3A) but they played with enough fire and intensity to pull out a victory.
“This is probably the best I’ve seen them play all season,” Southside coach Elizabeth Pruden said. “I know we’ve only had two games but we had some jamborees and stuff and in practice we have been looking a little shaky and weak, but today I found out that we do have power, it was just hiding.”
The Seahawks showed that power as it put forth a good team effort that was led by Sondra Sparks, Marlin Edwards, Katie Laughinghouse, Valerie Ruffin and Macy Paramore.
“We’re just really scrappy,” Pruden said. “We may not have size but we have a real scrappy team that has a lot of heart.”
In the first match, it was Washington that was flexing its muscles as it outscored Southside 10-5 down the stretch to take a 1-0 lead.
The Seahawks didn’t flinch in the second match. The two teams tied each other six times, with the last time knotting the game at 12-12. From there, Southside used a 9-1 run to leg out a 25-18 victory.
In the pivotal third match, the Seahawks once again strung together some momentum and turned an 8-1 run into a 13-5 lead that they would never surrender.
At one point Washington was down 20-11, but a late rally brought them as close as 24-18 before Southside scored the game-winning point.
There would be no such rally in the fourth and final game as the Pam Pack looked like it packed it in early as the Seahawks ripped off a 10-0 run to start the game en route to a 25-8 victory.
“I think we started off strong but got complacent and we didn’t work as hard as we should have worked,” Washington’s first-year coach Kelly Slade said.
Despite strong play by Robin Lilley, Megan Corey and some of the other Pack net players, the team as a whole committed several unforced errors in the loss.
“I just don’t think we were mentally prepared,” Slade said. “I just don’t think our head was in the game today.”
The Pam Pack won’t have to wait long for a rematch as the two teams will play again on Monday at Washington.