Roundup: Scotland volleyball, girls tennis pick up wins

The Scotland High School varsity volleyball team beat Southern Lee 3-0 in its conference opener Thursday night.

The Lady Scots (4-0) won the first set 25-18, but needed to overcome a 12-point deficit in the second set to win it 25-23. Then, they closed out the match by winning the third set 25-19.

“We played all over the place,” said head coach Libby Pearce. “(The second set) is the most I’ve seen them fight this year. They came out strong in set three with a 14-1 lead and Southern Lee made us pay for little mistakes we made. I think now the girls realize that getting comfortable can be dangerous and we need to play with the same intensity from start to finish.”

Next, the Lady Scots will travel to Red Springs on Monday for another non-conference matchup.

Lady Scot tennis wins against West Columbus

The Scotland High School girls tennis team picked up a win against West Columbus Thursday evening.

The Lady Scots won 9-0 after going undefeated in the singles matches, and then the Vikings’ coach forfeited the doubles matches before they could be completed.

Scotland’s Olivia Aiken beat Katherine Edwards 8-1 at the No. 1 spot, Scotland’s Laura Wlodarczak defeated Ann Butler 8-4 at No. 2, Scotland’s Valeria Carranza then beat Brianna Williamson 8-4 at the No. 3 position. Then, Scotland’s Morgan Stewart beat Emma Ward 8-3 at No. 4, Scotland’s Samantha Collard beat Jayden Williamson 8-1 at No. 5 and Scotland’s Maegan Gunnells beat Tashala Jackson 8-3 at the No. 6 position.

Head coach Brian Patterson said Scotland was winning each of the doubles matches at the time West Columbus forfeited.

Cross country runs in first meet of season

The Scotland High School boys and girls cross country teams ran in their first meet of the season this week.

For the boys, Cooper Sutherland was the Scots’ top finisher, coming in fourth.

The Lady Scots had two runners come in the top-10. Carson Buie was seventh, while Bethany Matthews finished 10th.

Mikayla Tucker finished 20th, Qiara Worth was right behind her in 21st and Makenzie Haywood rounded out the girls, coming in 36th.

Scotland boys soccer loses at Hoke County

The Scotland High School varsity boys soccer team lost 7-0 on the road to Hoke County Wednesday night.

The Bucks scored two goals in the first half and added five more in the second half. Senior goalkeeper Gavin Stanley saved a penalty kick, but Hoke still scored a goal off the rebound that resulted from the save.

“It was a very intensive game on both ends,” said head coach David Wright. “We played hard from start to finish. Our defenders were communicating well, they were moving and we started off very good in the first half. Both our midfield and our strikers were pressing the ball and making well-executed passes, but in the end Hoke was just a more physical and dynamic team.”

The loss drops the team to 0-5 and now 0-1 to open Sandhills Athletic Conference play.

“Each game the team is learning more and more,” Wright said. “They’re getting stronger and better-skilled with the ball. Soon this team will be a well-organized and goal-scoring team.”