North Duplin's game last Tuesday was a loss, but they didn't let that memory haunt them on Thursday. They had just enough and edged the Lakewood Leopards out 3-2. For the Rebels, this counts as revenge for the 3-1 defeat the Leopards walked away with the last time they faced one another back in October of 2023.
It was an exciting match in which no team won back-to-back sets, but at the end of the day North Duplin got the one that really mattered. The final score came out to 25-18, 20-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-6.
North Duplin's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Carrly Strickland led the charge by getting seven digs and three aces. The dominant performance gave Strickland a new career-high in aces. Another player making a difference was Iala Overton, who had six digs and three aces.
She wasn't the only good server: North Duplin was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 20 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least eight aces in ten consecutive matches.
North Duplin has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a massive bump to their 6-4 record this season. As for Lakewood, they are on a five-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 1-8.
North Duplin will face off against Union at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Union is coming into the matchup with six straight losses at home, meaning North Duplin will have to defend against a squad hungry for a victory. As for Lakewood, they will challenge Pender at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Lakewood is facing Pender at the right time seeing as Pender is stuck on a seven-game losing streak.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
