Wilmington, NC - The Cape Fear women's volleyball team won their 8th straight match, defeating Brunswick Community College 3-0. Sophomore Bailey Toman lead the team with eight kills, while freshman Cali Watson finished with seven kills and seven blocks. Sophomore Chelsea Bailey led the team with 14 digs.
"I'm happy with the win," said head coach Emily Coleman. "I thought we were very effective in the middle which is something we were working on."
The first set was competitive throughout, with both teams holding the lead at one point. The Sea Devils opened with an ace by sophomore Faryn Salazar. It would give them an early advantage, but the Dolphins would keep it close in the early parts of the match, taking advantage of mistakes by Cape Fear.
As the set wore on, Brunswick gained confidence, and would take the lead at 9-8. They would briefly hold a two point lead, but Cape Fear would take it back at 11-10. From there, they would score seven of the next eight points, forcing Brunswick to call timeout with the score 18-11.
The momentum swung as the Sea Devils became more organized. Their focus improved, and they placed shots where they wanted.
Brunswick would mount a small comeback, cutting the score to 20-16. Cape Fear would stop it before they could make a full comeback, however, and pull away to take the first set 25-18. Toman would record a dig in the winning point, with sophomore Kacie Markle earning the kill, and sophomore Amber Tyndall recording the assist.
Like the first, the second set was competitive in the early goings. The Dolphins would take the first two points of the second set, before Cape Fear would regroup and tie it at 2-2. The lead would bounce back and forth for a bit, until the Sea Devils would jump out to a 9-5 lead, forcing Brunswick to call timeout.
Cape Fear would build on their lead following the timeout, and extend their lead to 11-5 before a bad serve would end their run. Brunswick would be unable to mount a run of their own however, and Cape Fear would steadily build a larger lead. The set would end 25-13.
An early 4-0 lead would give the Sea Devils momentum to start the final set. While they maintained it, Brunswick would begin to cut away, and eventually take the lead 9-7, forcing Cape Fear to call timeout.
Brunswick would maintain a small advantage following it, leading 14-10 at one point. However, Cape Fear would regroup, and run off five points in a row to take the lead 15-14.
The set would remain close until the end. Brunswick would make a late push, but Cape Fear would hold on to win it 25-23.
Despite winning in three straight sets, Coleman felt Brunswick challenged her team. "I believe it was a good test for us; Brunswick came in and played hard, but we responded well."
Today's match was the first time the Sea Devils had played in nearly two weeks, with Hurricane Matthew cancelling their matches this past weekend, and postponing the match against Brunswick until today.
"It was nice to finally get back on the floor after Hurricane Matthew, and our prayers and thoughts are with those still affected," said Coleman.
Today's win moves Cape Fear to 11-6 on the season, and 10-1 in conference play.
They next matches are scheduled for Saturday, October 15th, where they will take on Surry Community College at 1:00 p.m., and Brunswick Community College at 3:00 p.m. Both games will be played in Bolivia, North Carolina at Brunswick Community College.
Courtesy of Nick Denning
