Ray and McKinnon Win Twice as Lady Flyers Split with Wake Tech

On a chilly, rainy Wednesday in Apex, the Sandhills Community College Beach volleyball team defeated Wake Tech 3-2 in the first of two matches for its first victory of the season.

The pairs of No. 2 Keke Lawrence and Alyssa Maragelis, No. 3 Mackenzie Swett and Emma Brown, and No. 4 JaLasia Ray and Ny'asia McKinnon recorded the wins that put the Lady Flyers into the win column.

In the second match, the No. 1 Lady Flyers pair of Lannah Huneycutt and Dajsha Fields won the first set.  Lay and McKinnon again won the No. 4, but Wake Tech won the overall match 3-2 to gain the split.

The weather should be fine on Friday when Coach Alicia Riggan's squad travels to Dallas, NC for the two-day Gaston Rhinos Invitational. The Lady Flyers (1-6) take on the host team Gaston College (2-11) at 1 p.m.  The busy week concludes with matches against Richard Bland at 10 a.m. and Catawba College at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

"I'm really proud of the girls for grabbing that first win," Riggan said on Thursday. "Now we have to make sure we are prepared to play back-to-back and stay focused regardless of how you did or how the first game went.

"Lay and Ny'Asia were playing together for the first time yesterday and won both games going three sets.  Several of the girls got their first win of the season as a pair and we think that will really help with their growth and confidence."

Sandhills 3, Wake Tech 2 – No. 1 Greene/Baker (WT) def. Huneycutt/Fields (SCC) 21-19, 21-18; No. 2 Lawrence/Maragelis (SCC) def. Falzarado/Gibbs (WT) 21-15, 21-17; No. 3 Swett/Brown (SCC) def. Tuten/Paylor 21-14, 21-7; No. 4 Ray/McKinnon (SCC) def. Holliday/Rivenbark (WT) 22-20, 18-21, 15-13; No. 5 Ivkovich/George (WT) def. Hinson/Ivey (SCC) 22-20, 21-14

Wake Tech 3, Sandhills 2 – No. 1 Huneycutt/Fields (SCC) def. Greene/Baker 21-15, 21-18; No. 2 Gibbs/Falzarano (WT) def. Lawrence/Maragelis 21-12, 21-12; No. 3 Holiday/Coates (WT) def. Swett/Brown (SCC) 25-23, 21-19; No. 4 Lay/McKinnon (SCC) def. Holliday/Rivenbark (WT) 13-21, 21-16 and 15-12; No. 5 Ivkovich/George (WT) def. Hinson/Ivey (SCC) 6-21, 20-22.

C. Bergmann