Wednesday’s area sports briefs (Oct. 14)
After the North Myrtle Beach volleyball team took down West Brunswick in a gruelling match that went five games Wednesday, coach Erica Allman immediately turned her attention to rival Myrtle Beach, which hosts the Chiefs in the Region VII-AAA finale Thursday.
“The girls really rallied together, played with a lot of fight and that’s what they need to do [Thursday],” Allman said.
However, North Myrtle Beach’s youth showed when the Chiefs picked up their only Region VII-AAA loss, 3-0, at the hands of the Seahawks on Sept. 29.
Allman hopes her squad learned from the defeat.
“Last time we played them – we’re a young team – I think our girls were a bit intimidated,” she said. “We’ll have a different mindset going into this one and we know we can play better than we did last time. We just need to come in with energy, passion and the will to play well.”
On Wednesday, though, North Myrtle Beach received a scare. The Chiefs’ No. 1 outside hitter, Maggie Hash, went down with an ankle injury. Hash finished with 14 kills Wednesday and is unlikely to play Thursday.
Allman is hoping her team can recover from the loss to stun the Seahawks in their own gym.
“We’re probably going into it without [Hash],” Allman said. “Huge loss for this team but the girls just need to focus and execute and we’ll be fine.”
Meanwhile, Maddie Roy finished with 26 assists Wednesday, Sydney Bellamy had nine kills and Lauren Leonard had seven kills and had three aces.
High school cross country
The Socastee boys cross country team and the Aynor girls took home the Horry County Cross Country Championship title Wednesday.
Myrtle Beach’s Ethan Epstein (16:33.23) took first place in the boys’ event with a stellar finish, while the Seahawks’ Morgan Apperson (20:34.93) finished first on the girl’s side.
Socastee was paced by Nick Lefever (16:56.34), who came in fourth. The Braves had three runners finish in the top 10.
Meanwhile, Aynor was led by Bailey Johnson (21:58.81), the school’s only top 10 finisher in the event.
The top seven runners from each side were named to the All-County team.
Boys
Team scores: Socastee 39, Myrtle Beach 52, Conway 76, Aynor 99, St. James 120, North Myrtle Beach 156, Green Sea Floyds 176, North Myrtle Beach 240.
Top 10: 1. Ethan Epstein (Myrtle Beach) 16:33.23; 2. Joey O'Neill (Aynor High School) 16:44.79; 3. Shane Mooney (Conway) 16:55.48; 4. Nick Lefever (Socastee) 16:56.34; 5 Keahi Mendoza (Socastee) 17:30.80; 6 Tyler Flannelly (Myrtle Beach) 17:53.87; 7 Elijah Lawson (Socastee) 17:55.42; 8 Monroe Thompkins (Conway) 18:16.24; 9 Dustin Squires (Aynor) 18:21.02; 10 Matthew Taylor (North Myrtle Beach) 18:26.97.
Girls
Team scores: Aynor 65, North Myrtle Beach 80, Socastee 81, Conway 82, Myrtle Beach 87, St. James 127, Green Sea Floyds 168.
Top 10: 1. Morgan Apperson (Myrtle Beach) 20:34.93; 2. Kenia Smith (Conway) 20:50.22; 3. Wilson Jenerette (North Myrtle Beach) 20:58.61; 4. Kelsey Glover (St. James) 21:14.10; 5. Alyssa Waibel (Conway) 21:32.09; 6. Kasie Ingram (Socastee) 21:56.79; 7. Bailey Johnson (Aynor) 21:58.81; 8. Kailey Flannelly (Myrtle Beach) 22:02.30; 9. Eden Fowler (North Myrtle Beach) 22:57.25; 10. Beka Booth (Socastee) 23:11.71.
High school girls tennis
▪ Johnsonville 6, Green Sea Floyds 1 | The Trojans picked up a win from Kaylee Jordan at No. 1 singles, but that was all Green Sea Floyds could muster as it fell to the Flashes.
Singles – Kaylee Jordan (GSF) d. Claire Stuckey 6-4, 6-3; McKenzie Williamson (J) d. Courtnee Faulk 6-2, 6-3; Tate Cook (J) d. Sefa Kienast 7-5, 7-5; Jenna Stone (J) d. Hali Hutchinson 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 10-5; Abbi Prosser (J) d. Carlyse Major 6-3, 6-2.
Doubles – Stuckey/Williamson (J) d. Jordan/Faulk 6-3, 6-2; Emily Eddy/Madison Britton (J) d. Emmy Kienast/Chance Caulder 8-4.
Records – Greeen Sea Floyds 6-4, Johnsonville 8-2.
This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Wednesday’s area sports briefs (Oct. 14)."