Tennis
Although the Lady Pirates won the match 5-0 against Walter Williams High School from Burlington, Mother Nature provided the drama as Topsail took a 4-0 lead in singles before the skies opened in Hampstead.
The rain interruption lasted for over two hours when regional-bound duo Caroline Harris and Kendal Allen played the deciding match under the lights, winning 10-5.
Carmen Jordan, Franca Buffalino, Caroline Harris and Kendal Allen each handily took their singles match to send Topsail into the second round of the 3A dual team tennis tournament.
Singles: No. 1 Carmen Jordan (T) def Abby Maner 6-2, 6-3; No. 2 Franca Buffalino (T) def Kristen Marshall 6-2, 6-2; No. 3 Caroline Harris (T) def Whitney Hamilton 6-0, 6-3; No. 4 Kendal Allen (T) def Emily Bailey 6-0, 6-2.
Doubles: No. 1 Harris/Allen (T) def Hamilton/Bailey 10-5.
Soccer
New Hanover 6 Topsail 0
New Hanover took one step closer to a conference championship with a 5-0 win over Topsail on Tuesday night.
Senior goal scorers Ian Bennett and Franco Fernandez were on display as the two Wildcats accounted for all five goals in the result. Bennett recorded the hat trick and Fernandez tallied twice, while Max Johnson made two saves in goal.
Brady Lademann, Jack Kiernan, Uli Van Hout and Nolan Fischer all recorded an assist.
The Wildcats improved to 9-1 in conference and 15-5 overall, one game ahead of Laney for top spot in league play with two conference games to go in the season.
Laney 1 New Bern 1
The Bucs played to a 1-1 draw with New Bern on Tuesday night after Wesley Nelson opened the scoring for Laney with a goal in the eighth minute off an assist from Carson Popper.
Laney (7-2, 15-3-2) trails New Hanover by one game for top spot in the conference standings heading into Thursday’s match against West Brunswick.
Ashley 3 West Brunswick 0
Josh Barnello gave Ashley a one-goal lead in the 65th minute off an assist from Josh Donnelson and the Screaming Eagles tallied twice more later in the second half to shutout West Brunswick 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Ashley moved to 6-3 in conference and 8-7-2 overall.
Volleyball
Hoggard 3 South Brunswick 0
(25-22, 25-19, 25-17)
Hoggard finished its second straight season sweep over Mideastern Conference opponents with a 3-0 win over South Brunswick on Tuesday. The Lady Vikes moved to 19-2 overall and 12-0 in league play heading into a first round home game as a No. 1 seed in the 4A playoffs.
South Brunswick (7-5, 14-5) will have a favorable seed in the state tournament after clinching the top spot for 3A schools in the split 3A/4A Mideastern Conference.
Topsail 3 New Hanover 0
(25-18,25-12,25-16)
Topsail stats: Blaine Gibson: one point, two assists, seven digs; Marlee Marrotta: 18 points, two kills, 10 digs; Kayla Ball: nine points, seven kills, one block; Payton Schoenleber: nine points, five kills, 18 assists, six digs; Kayla Hyatt: five points, 11 kills, one block, nine digs; Keri White: three points, two digs.
West Brunswick 3 Ashley 0
(29-27, 25-21, 25-17)
Coastal Christian 3 Cape Fear Academy 0
East Duplin 3 North Brunswick 0
