Up-and-Down Trend Continues for PCC Volleyball

WINTERVILLE—Pitt Community College volleyball took two steps forward and two steps back last week, topping Wake Technical Community College twice on Wednesday before losing to College of Southern Maryland Friday and Spartanburg Methodist College Saturday.

The Bulldogs, 10-8 overall and 2-2 in Region X Conference play, had little trouble getting past Wake Tech. In the first match, which counted in the conference standings, PCC blanked the Eagles, 3-0.

Courtney Everette recorded seven kills and five block assists and Natalie Salter had seven kills and nine digs for the Bulldogs, who won the first set, 25-9, before taking the next two, 25-16 and 25-23.

Haley Galimore and Morghan Stallings finished with five kills apiece for Pitt. Stallings added 10 digs while Holly Sears added nine more. Jessica Sweers led the Dawgs in assists with 17.

PCC took game two from the Eagles, 3-1 (25-22, 25-15, 26-28 and 25-20), behind 10 kills and eight digs from Sears.

Galimore and Salter had six kills each in Wednesday’s second game. Teammate Debbie Stotesbury finished with a team-high 12 digs, Stallings added 10 more, and Salter nine. Sweers tallied 30 assists.

Pitt played its second out-of-conference match of the week against a solid team from College of Southern Maryland. The Hawks entered the game with a 26-4 record and ended up notching their 27th victory with a 3-0 win over PCC.

The Bulldogs fell behind early in set one against CSM but played even the rest of the way before falling, 25-19. Sets two and three were closer as the teams were tied at 21-21 tie in each of the final two frames before the Hawks went on to win, 25-22 and 25-23, respectively.

Everette led the Bulldogs’ attack with nine kills. Galimore and Stallings added six kills each. Sweers had 16 assists, and Sears turned in 16 digs in a solid defensive effort.

Against Spartanburg Methodist Saturday, the Dawgs got off to a sluggish start, dropping the first set, 25-18, before rallying to take the second, 25-16.

Though the match was close the rest of the way, the Pioneers avenged an earlier-season loss to Pitt by eking out a 26-24 win in the third frame before closing out the game with a 25-20 victory in the fourth.

Galimore and Salter paced PCC offensively with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Salter added 10 digs for a double-double.

Sears had 26 digs for Pitt, and Sweers posted a team-high 22 assists. Everette finished with seven kills for the Bulldogs to go along with nine block assists.

After an eight-day break, PCC will get a chance to right the ship Oct. 5 against Brunswick Community College in the Coburn Center at 5 p.m.

09/28/2009