WILLIAMSTON — The Northside volleyball team bounced back after a tough loss to Pamlico County on Tuesday with a 3-1 win on Thursday over Bear Grass, the team’s first Coastal Plains Conference win.

After taking the first game, 25-21, and the second game, 26-24, the Panthesr were blown out in Game 3, 25-6. However, Northside responded by taking the fourth and final game, 25-20.

With the win, the Panthers improve to 3-3 and will face Lejeune on Thursday.

 

SOUTHSIDE VOLLEYBALL FALLS IN FIVE TO LEJEUNE

CHOCOWINITY — The Southside volleyball team dropped a tough five-setter to conference foe Lejeune on Thursday, 3-2.

The Seahawks took the first (25-21) and third games (25-23), while the Devil Pups won Game 2 (25-22), Game 4 (25-9) and the fifth-game tiebreaker (15-12). Sophomore Symone Ruffin led Southside with 14 kills, while Taylor Langley finished with 10 kills.

With the loss, the Seahawks drop to 3-6 (1-2 CPC) and will play host to Pamlico County (2-5) next Thursday.

 

WASHINGTON VOLLEYBALL DEFEATS EDENTON HOLMES

The Washington volleyball team defeated Edenton Holmes on Thursday, 3-1.

After dropping the first game, 25-19, the Pam Pack took the next three games, 25-23, 25-22, 26-24, to seal the victory. Washington’s kill leaders were Meghan Moore and Jordan Prescott.

With the win, the Pam Pack improves to 3-5 and will face Farmville Central in the Eastern Plains Conference opener on Tuesday at Washington High School.

 

WILLIAMS STUNNED IN US OPEN BY VINCI, SLAM BID ENDS

NEW YORK (AP) — For Serena Williams’ first 26 matches at major tournaments in 2015, no deficit was too daunting, no opponent too troublesome, no victory too far from reach.

She was unbeaten and, seemingly, unbeatable, nearing the first Grand Slam in more than a quarter-century. All Williams needed was two more wins to pull off that rare feat. And yet, against an unseeded and unheralded opponent in the U.S. Open semifinals, she faltered. Her pursuit of history ended, oh so close.

In one of the most significant upsets in the history of tennis, Williams finally found a hole too big to climb out of, losing 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 Friday at Flushing Meadows to 43rd-ranked Roberta Vinci of Italy.

“I don’t want to talk about how disappointing it is for me,” Williams said at the start of a briefer-than-usual news conference. “If you have any other questions, I’m open for that.”

Vinci had never before played in a Grand Slam semifinal. She had never so much as taken a set off Williams in four previous matchups.