VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: ROCK-A-NOOS SWEEP TITANS, SET UP MATCH FOR FIRST PLACE

Published 12:31 am Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Port Neches-Groves won the first set over Memorial 25-22 and dominated the next two frames at home Tuesday.

Now, the Rock-A-Noos have a shot at earning first place outright and exacting revenge for its only District 21-5A volleyball loss with one match to follow.

PNG won the last two sets 25-16, 25-12 at The Reservation with much help from Halley Smith. Ten of her 17 service points resulted in aces, while Maylin Louvier served 10 points (three aces), and Kaitlyn Gil and Kasidee Sartin four each (two aces for Sartin).

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Gil led the Indians (31-5, 9-1 in 21-5A) with 18 kills, Liz Bolyard added six, and Layla Stansbury had two. Holly Jones had 16 assists and Natalie Nelson added eight.

Smith finished with 11 digs, while Bayja Newby and Kaitlyn Gil added six apiece.

Barbers Hill, which had one district loss going into Tuesday’s match, defeated PNG in four sets in Port Neches on Sept. 25, ending the Rock-A-Noos’ 22-match district winning streak. PNG has won 36 of 38 district matches since 2016. The rematch will begin at 4:30 p.m. Friday in Mont Belvieu.

Nederland handed BH its only loss in five sets on Sept. 11.

No statistics were available for Memorial (18-19, 1-9), which has to beat Cleveland at home Friday and Dayton on the road Tuesday to secure a second straight winning record. PNG hosts Vidor next Tuesday.

OLSEN’S 14 STRAIGHT SERVICE POINTS LEAD NEDERLAND IN SWEEP

In Nederland, Brianna Olsen struck 14 service points in a row and finished with 17 total, helping the Bulldogs (20-18, 6-5 in 21-5A) take a much-needed 25-7, 25-14, 25-8 win over Cleveland on senior night.

Olsen had four aces and three kills. Meg Sheppard led the Bulldogs with seven kills and four digs; Haley Plumley, Hannah Hickey and Karley McGill each totaled five kills and Jenna Jarrett had 14 assists in the win.

Nederland will visit Dayton on Friday for its regular-season finale.

About I.C. Murrell

I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

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