Welcome to Independent Tribune Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

independenttribune.com - Independent Tribune

HomeNewsEntertainmentSportsLifestylesOpinionCommunityWeather Online Tools Jobs | Real Estate | Shopping | Classified

Northwest tops Cox Mill in 4 games in first matchup of new county rivals

By Steve Winzenread | Independent Tribune

Published: September 22, 2009

CONCORD — It doesn't take a wizard to figure out that every athletic event between Northwest Cabarrus and Cox Mill will be heartfelt.
Take Tuesday night's South Piedmont Conference volleyball match at Cox Mill, for example.
Senior Kristin Carter plays for Northwest. Her sister, sophomore Amanda Carter, plays for Cox Mill.
That's what happens when a new school opens, and seniors stay where they are. Meanwhile, students who were sophomores and freshmen at Northwest last year but are now in the Cox Mill district are at the new school.
Northwest, as expected, won 25-14, 26-28, 25-19, 25-23.
"This is a big rivalry," said Trojans coach Gina Smith. "We really got hurt numbers-wise because of the split. It was a big win."
Cox Mill (2-5 SPC) jumped on top 4-0 in the first game behind the serving of Emily Stevens, but Northwest regrouped as Kristin Carter and Hanna Hartsell provided strong serving of their own.
In game two, the Chargers held a 17-10 lead, but again Hartsell and Carter served well and Northwest went ahead 20-18.
Then Cox Mill rallied, taking a 26-25 edge on Amanda Carter's kill.
Northwest tied it before Cox Mill scored the final two points to take the game. Stevens made several kills in game two for the Chargers.
"We had some lulls that hurt us," Smith said. "We're usually a 92-percent serving team, but we were putting serves in the net and where they weren't supposed to be."
The Trojans (3-4 SPC) took control in game three, going ahead 10-5 when Amanda Medlin served for five points in a row.
Chelsea Tucker's kill provided the decisive 25th point.
Amanda Carter served Cox Mill to a 19-17 lead in game four. The Chargers were still ahead 21-19 when the Trojans came back.
Leslie Oman had two big kills down the stretch as Northwest closed out the match.
"Leslie is our captain," Smith said. "She's one of my smarter players, one of the most versatile on the team."
Cox Mill coach Dorian Mills said her team is "doing an amazing job considering we only started in late summer. We're in a tough conference. They've stepped up. We're working from the ground up.
"They fought hard the whole match. We have a couple of kinks. We're going to work on those and come back fighting even harder next time. I'm very happy with their progression as a team."