LAURINBURG — All three of Scotland High’s seniors had big roles in the volleyball team’s win over Lumberton on Senior Night.
Asjah Swindell and Abby Quick were big contributors, as usual — Swindell showcased her blocking and attacking skills at the net, and Quick made several key digs as libero. Saya Inamura, a relative newcomer to the program who hadn’t played much prior to Tuesday night, took full advantage of her playing time against the Pirates. Inamura’s serves helped swing the momentum back to Scotland’s side and end Lumberton’s runs a few times.
“It’s always fun to be able to do that on Senior Night,” coach Mallory Wheeler said.
Before Tuesday’s match, the final regular-season home game of their high school careers, the three seniors were honored for their contributions to the program. For Quick and Swindell, it was a time to reflect on their four years with the program.
“It’s definitely sad,” Quick said. “I’m gonna miss everybody, and just playing in general.”
Swindell said it was a “bittersweet” feeling.
“We might come back and visit, but we’re not going to play with these girls again,” Swindell said. “We’ve just got to take it in and focus on each other.”
The Scots have one game left on their regular-season schedule, a road game at Richmond on Thursday. But they are in contention to keep playing in the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament and beyond. With an 11-2 record in conference play, the Scots are right behind first-place Pinecrest (12-1).
Pinecrest dealt Scotland a humbling 3-1 loss in Southern Pines last week in a battle for the league’s top spot. The seniors knew the importance of rebounding quickly from that game, especially with two tough conference opponents awaiting them this week.
“We came back, we refocused and we worked hard at practice,” Swindell said. “We know we want to win. We want to keep winning. And we’ll see Pinecrest again.”
The next step was beating Lumberton. Scotland had defeated Lumberton 3-1 earlier this season. The final two sets in that match went to extra points. The Scots knew they were in for another challenge on Tuesday, but they had something extra to play for.
“We had a lot more hustle,” Quick said. “The rest of the team wanted to win it for us (seniors). It was our special night, and there was a lot more hustle and communication.
“We had a tough practice (Monday), so I think that helped as well.”
The end of the road is near for the seniors, but there’s still plenty of unfinished business to take care of.
“We’re just going to keep playing,” Swindell said. “We want to win the conference tournament for sure. That’s the main goal.”
