CHOCOWINITY — Southside hit a bump in the road in what has been a dominant showing thus far this season. The Lady Seahawks were handled by Pamlico County in a 3-0 sweep on Thursday.

They lost the opening set, 25-16, and that was as close as they’d come in the three-game matchup with the Lady Hurricanes. Southside lost the ensuing sets 25-14 and 25-15. It marked the team’s second loss of the season and first in the 1-A Coastal Plains Conference.

“I feel like we started beating ourselves up,” coach Atyana Starkie said. “We made careless, careless mistakes. I told the girls it wasn’t going to be easy, but we did make mistakes and beat ourselves up.”

Like Southside, the Lady Hurricanes entered the contest undefeated in league play. They played a short, but tough non-conference slate against the likes of Havelock, which they swept, and top-tier New Bern.

However, even though Pamlico County made for a tough challenge, Starkie is hoping that the underwhelming performance was a one-time deal. She believes that her team is capable of making waves in what is shaping up to be a tough conference.

“I’m hoping that this was one time. I don’t plan on going back out there and doing that again,” Starkie said.

The Lady Seahawks had some impressive individual performances from the likes of Sarah Shingleton, Danielle Ruffin and Symone Ruffin.

“AS far as scrambling, we do a good job of adjusting and moving our feet. I think we did a good job with that,” Starkie said.

Volleyball is as much a team sport as one can find, and even the best individual efforts here and there can only do so much. Because of that, Southside couldn’t build much momentum. The Lady Seahawks led their visitors, 8-3, early in the third set. Pamlico County called a timeout and was able to rally back.

The Lady Hurricanes tied the set at 12-12 before going on a 13-4 run to win the match.

“I told them to keep fighting,” Starkie said. “Don’t ever give in. Always work for it. Even if we lose, I can’t get mad if they’re fighting for it.”

Southside has already eclipsed its win total from the last three seasons combined. This group obviously knows how to win. The hope is the team can learn from the loss and use to propel itself forward.

“We’re going to keep moving. We’ve got some more giants to fight,” Starkie said. “The vibe is different this year. I hope we can come back because we’ve got some big games next week.”

Southside faces another big challenge on Tuesday when it travels to rival Northside.