North Duplin’s M’Chelle Jaco saves a dig that was first touched by setter Lilly Fulghum, right, during third-set action against Lakewood on Monday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
CALYPSO — Heather Best’s worries didn’t last too long while she stood on the sideline Monday afternoon.
North Duplin just needed to warm up.
Once the Rebels found their rhythm offensively, they cruised past Lakewood 25-16, 25-17, 25-13 over Lakewood in quarterfinal-round play of the 2024 Carolina 1A Conference tournament.
Seeded third, North Duplin (12-7 overall) opposes second-seeded Neuse Charter (15-7) in semifinal-round play today. First serve is 7 p.m. at Kaleel Gym.
Regular-season champion Rosewood (20-2) faces fourth-seeded Hobbton (14-5) at 5 p.m.
The championship tilt is Wednesday.
“We didn’t get a chance to do anything Friday and coming [off the weekend] to immediately [play] without any practice in between, I was kind of worried about that,” Best said. “Were they were going to be prepared? Were they going to be mentally ready, not too relaxed?
“The coach in me sometimes wants them to be a little bit more focused, but that’s how they focus. I’ve had to learn to sit back and let them do this.”
North Duplin watched Lakewood shave a seven-point deficit to 13-9 midway through the opening set.
Senior Eva Quintanilla warmed up on the outside pin. Middle blocker Tateyawna Faison and Maggie Brown got touches on Leopard attacks and the back-row defenders responded with solid work.
The Rebels forged ahead 19-10.
“We were very scrappy on several points,” Best said.
Consecutive digs from Faison and Brown gave North Duplin set point at 24-16. Marissa Bernal polished off the Leopards with an ace.
Quintanilla tooled a block, which put the Rebels in command 10-2 during set two. Sixth-seeded Lakewood climbed to within 14-12.
A service error allowed the Rebels to regain command and reel off an 11-5 run. Abigeal Norris Brown dumped a short shot inside the 3-meter line off an assist from Quintanilla to end the set.
Set three started in back-and-forth fashion.
Long rallies punctuated a few points until North Duplin found another offensive spark.
An 8-6 lead quickly ballooned to 21-10. Faison posted two solo blocks and connected two kills. Brown served up three aces. Libero Marissa Bernal (24 digs), M’Chelle Jaco and Ady Spence covered the back court well, which permitted setter Lilly Fulghum to effectively run the offense.
Spence’s dump off a Lakewood defender’s hands sailed into the bleachers and sealed the three-set outcome that took just 62 minutes to play.
Honored before the game for reaching 1,000 career assists, the junior handed out 21 against the Leopards.
Faison ended the night with seven solo blocks and four kills. Quintanilla posted a team-high 11 kills, while the Brown siblings — Maggie and Abigeal — cranked out six kills apiece.
North Duplin logged a season-best .511 hitting percentage for the match.
“We wanted to get over this game,” Best said. “I tell them ‘one game at a time’ and not to think about other games. We have to conquer this team before we even consider playing the next game. Don’t look too far ahead.
“We’ve got a job to do tonight. And now that we finished this job, we have a job tomorrow night.”
You may reach sports writer Rudy Coggins at prepswriter2@gmail.com or call/text 919-709-9257.
2024 Carolina 1A Conference
Volleyball Tournament
(at North Duplin HS, Calypso)
Monday’s games
Quarterfinals
North Duplin 3, Lakewood 0
Hobbton 3, Union 0
Today’s games
Semifinals
5 p.m. — #4 Hobbton (14-5) vs. #1 Rosewood (20-2)
7 p.m. — #3 North Duplin (12-7) vs. #2 Neuse Charter (15-7)
Wednesday’s game
Championship
6 p.m. — Semifinal winners
