East Bladen’s Lady Eagles claimed their first Four County Conference victory of the season Thursday night with a 3-1 win over visiting Pender by game scores of 25-8, 17-25, 25-10 and 25-17.
Senior Lacey Suggs lit up the scoreboard with 23 service points, 7 aces, 5 kills and an assist. Teammate Miller Heustess keyed the Lady Eagle offense with 17 assists and also tallied 13 service points, 4 aces and a kill.
Junior Lexie Mendell fired in 12 kills and 4 service points for the winners, and senior Claire Campbell racked up 6 kills, 5 service points and 3 assists.
Sophomore Hannah DeVane knocked in 4 kills and 7 service points for East, and junior Anna Grace Long tallied 5 service points. Freshman Ashley Hardin contributed 2 assists, and senior Abby Ward added a service point.
Suggs opened the match with a 6-0 service run that she capped with an ace. Heustess won the serve back with a kill, then tacked on a pair of service points with the help of a pair of Mendell spikes that grew the lead to 9-1.
A pair of DeVane service points stretched the lead to 12-2, and Mendell and Suggs pushed across winners to keep the margin at 17-8. Heustess served out the game with eight straight points that concluded with a pair of aces.
Pender took a 10-6 lead in Game 2, before Campbell tapped in a winner and added a pair of service points that whittled the lead to 10-9 with the help of a Mendell kill and a Long tip.
The Lady Patriots rode a 7-1 burst to a 17-10 lead. Kills by DeVane and Mendell produced a pair of Suggs service points, and the Lady Eagles rallied to within 18-15 when Heustess dotted the right sideline with an ace.
Ward delivered a winning return to keep the margin at 19-16, before a 6-1 Pender run took the game and evened the match.
Suggs started Game 3 with 4 straight service points aided by a pair of Mendell kills. A Campbell kill won a service point for Heustess, and a trio of DeVane service points staked East Bladen to an early 10-2 lead.
Mendell and Long delivered 2 service points each as the lead grew to 17-7. A back-row tip from Suggs started her own 4-point service run that widened the gap to 21-8. Service points by Heustess and DeVane along with a Campbell kill closed out the game.
After a pair of Pender service points began Game 4, Suggs pounded in a kill then blistered the court with 4 aces during a run of 8 straight service points that put East ahead 9-2.
Ward lobbed a return winner over the Pender server, and Mendell’s tip won another Heustess service point. A Ward service point kept the Lady Eagle lead at 13-7, but Pender tied the game with a 7-1 spurt.
The Eagles won back the serve at 15-14, and Campbell captured 4 straight service points for a 19-14 lead. A trio of service points by Long stretched the lead to 23-15 as East took the match.
Coach Jennifer Hair’s Lady Eagles are now 1-2 in conference play and 3-5 overall.
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