North Caroline Volleyball Repeat As Bayside Champs

Salisbury, MD – The North Caroline volleyball team repeated as Bayside Champs and earned their 7th title in 8 years after they defeated James M. Bennett 3-2 Tuesday night.

The teams would find themselves in a battle early on, splitting the opening two sets. The Bulldogs took advantage of their strong front row of Kayla Figueroa and Makayla Mullikin, and would complement it with strong serving. North Caroline was able to attack different zones of the Clippers defense to keep them out of system at times, while at others drawing several aces. The Bulldogs would take the 3rd set before Bennett responded in the 4th.

The Clippers would score 8 of the first 10 points of the set to take a huge lead to start. Bennett used strong serving of their own, combined with their back row stepping up defensively from Heather Starner. Alison Todd then would begin to take over the match and help lead the charge to a huge lead late in the 4th set. 

That's when the match changed.

On Figueroa's approach to a set, she went down with an apparent ankle injury and would have to be helped off the court. Grieving in pain, she would be sidelined for the remainder of the match and the Bulldogs were without their best outside hitter. But rather than fold, North Caroline showed their heart and exploded in the 5th set to a dominating win. After the win, the team immediately all ran to Figueroa, surrounding her and celebrating the win with her.