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North Lenoir rebounds past West Craven, enters conference finale in second place

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Hawks rebound and take down West Craven
North Lenoir Volleyball

Stats submitted by North Lenoir head coach Heather Carson.

LA GRANGE - North Lenoir answered a midweek loss with one of its most important wins of the season Thursday, rallying from a set down to defeat West Craven 21-25, 25-8, 25-22, 25-22.

The victory improved the Hawks to 15-5 overall and 8-3 in the Three Rivers 4A Conference. It also avenged a straight-set loss at West Craven on Sept. 15 and kept North Lenoir in second place with one conference match remaining.

Hawks flip the match after slow start

West Craven took the opening set 25-21, but North Lenoir responded with its most dominant frame of the night, racing to a 25-8 win in the second. The Hawks then closed out two tight sets by identical 25-22 scores.

Kennedi Starkie led North Lenoir at the net with 16 kills and six blocks. Camryn Jenkins added 10 kills and seven digs, while Maddie Howard directed the offense with 30 assists and 11 service points.

Bijou Sutton finished with 13 service points, and Kenzie Carson added eight digs.

Response after Washington loss

The win came two nights after North Lenoir fell 3-1 at Washington. The Hawks won the opening set 25-22 before Washington took the next three 25-13, 25-18 and 25-17.

Jenkins had eight kills in the loss, Starkie finished with nine kills and six blocks, and Carson recorded 23 service points.

Washington followed that win by beating SouthWest Edgecombe on Thursday and sits first in the Three Rivers at 9-1. North Lenoir is second at 8-3, followed by North Johnston at 7-3 and West Craven at 6-4.

Conference finale carries weight

North Lenoir closes conference play Tuesday at North Johnston. A win would give the Hawks a 9-3 conference record and guarantee they finish no lower than second in the conference standings, with neither North Johnston nor West Craven able to catch them. A loss could open the door to a tie for second depending on the final results involving North Johnston and West Craven.

The matchup will also matter for postseason seeding. In the Oct. 4 NCHSAA RPI snapshot, North Lenoir was No. 24 in Class 4A with a .55500 RPI. The NCHSAA volleyball RPI page was updated again at 3:05 p.m. Oct. 8, before Thursday night’s West Craven match, so that public update does not include the Hawks’ latest win. The 4A playoff bracket includes 48 teams, with qualifying schools split into East and West and seeded within each region by the final RPI.

The NCHSAA bracketing date is Oct. 15, with the first round scheduled for Oct. 17.

A program used to meaningful October matches

North Lenoir entered this season coming off a 20-2 campaign in 2025, when the Hawks went 12-0 in conference play and reached the third round of the Class 4A playoffs. North Lenoir was the No. 5 seed in last year’s bracket, defeated No. 12 First Flight in five sets and then fell to No. 4 Randleman in five.

The Hawks have gone 72-13 overall since the start of the 2023 season, including a 42-5 conference record during that span.

Now the focus shifts to Kenly, where North Lenoir can close the regular-season conference schedule by locking down second place and adding another result to its postseason résumé.