Junior Taylor Waitley (20) and junior Kate Carter (5) go up for a block Tuesday night against Pinecrest in Southern Pines.
                                 Neel Madhavan | The Laurinburg Exchange

Junior Taylor Waitley (20) and junior Kate Carter (5) go up for a block Tuesday night against Pinecrest in Southern Pines.

Neel Madhavan | The Laurinburg Exchange

<p>Junior Angelle Norton (15) and junior Kadence Sheppard go up for a block against Pinecrest Tuesday night, while junior Kamdyn Morgan (6) looks on.</p>
                                 <p>Neel Madhavan | The Laurinburg Exchange</p>

Junior Angelle Norton (15) and junior Kadence Sheppard go up for a block against Pinecrest Tuesday night, while junior Kamdyn Morgan (6) looks on.

Neel Madhavan | The Laurinburg Exchange

SOUTHERN PINES — Pinecrest showed Tuesday night why they’re the best team in the Sandhills Athletic Conference and why they’re the favorites to repeat as conference champions, as the Scotland High School volleyball team recorded its first loss of the season 3-1.

The Lady Patriots didn’t necessarily expose the Lady Scots’ weaknesses, but through strong serving forced Scotland into uncharacteristic mistakes that the Lady Scots hadn’t made during their previously undefeated start.

“I think the biggest thing, for whatever reason, is we came out timid,” said head coach Mallory Wheeler. “We play against tough servers in practice and I don’t know if they got in their head that it was Pinecrest or what, but they just froze up and just didn’t seem like they had any confidence and just waited too long to start playing.”

Both teams came into Tuesday’s matchup 4-0 atop the Sandhills Athletic Conference standings and neither had dropped a set yet this season. The win gives Pinecrest a leg up in the SAC title race in a shortened, amended season, as the Lady Scots drop to 4-1, where each game takes on greater significance with lower margin for error.

Wheeler highlighted senior Kinsley Sheppard’s defensive play as libero covering the court throughout all four sets.

“I thought she stepped up in a major way with her passing and defense,” Wheeler said. “She was able to pass the ball pretty consistently throughout the match.”

Sheppard said she really paid attention to where the Pinecrest hitters were spiking and positioning themselves to hit the ball over the net, and positioned herself accordingly.

“If I messed up, I really just kept my confidence up and didn’t let myself get down,” she added.

Pinecrest jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first set and extended that to 16-9. The Lady Patriots were then able to close out the set on a 9-0 run to take it 25-9.

The Lady Patriots controlled the set with hard, carefully placed serving that kept the Lady Scots off balance and prevented them from being able to consistently return serve and seize control of points and attack the way they want to.

“Their serving was the best we’ve seen this year, but we just needed to communicate better,” Sheppard said. “We learned where most of their players served the ball and tried to position ourselves to get better passes.”

The second set was more of the same, but this time the Lady Scots would begin to mount small runs here and there, but were never able to close the deficit closer than six points, as Pinecrest took a 2-0 lead 25-17.

Scotland started the third set with a lead, and led for the majority of the set, building it up to 19-12. Despite a 10-3 Pinecrest run that tied it up 22-22, the Lady Scots were able to capitalize on some unforced errors by the Lady Patriots, as Pinecrest dropped its first set of the season 25-22.

“I think they felt that pressure of, if we don’t step up right now, this game is over and they didn’t want it to be,” Wheeler said. “I don’t doubt their heart, I don’t doubt their grit, but like I said they were hesitant for whatever reason in those first two sets.”

The fourth set was close throughout, until Pinecrest gained a bit of breathing room with a 16-12 lead. A quick 7-1 run gave Scotland its first lead of the set, but Pinecrest responded with a run of their own to retake the lead, the set 25-21 and the match.

“I would say our hitters had a hard time connecting those first couple sets – everything was kind of off,” Wheeler said. “But through three and four, I was pretty impressed across the board with our effort. Everybody playing collectively, you could tell they wanted it, but it was just a little bit too late.”

JV notches tight 2-1 win

The JV Lady Scots jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, but a similar run from Pinecrest leveled the set 5-5. The two teams then proceeded to exchange small runs throughout the rest of the set, until at 16-17, Scotland went on a 9-1 run on the serves of sophomore Natalia Rodrigues and freshman Nateya Scott to take the first set 25-18.

Both teams had a number of unforced errors early in the second set as they largely exchanged points back-and-forth. Rodrigues and sophomore Angel Cole were a handful at the net for the JV Lady Scots, getting several blocks on Pinecrest kill attempts and attacks.

But, a 9-2 run on the serve of Pinecrest’s Trinity Shelvey, coupled with more unforced errors from Scotland gave the second set to the JV Lady Patriots 25-18.

With the Lady Scots leading 13-9 in the third and deciding set, a tense series of points drew a lot of noise and apprehension from the socially distanced home crowd. But, ultimately, the JV Lady Scots were able to close the deal 15-12 in the third set, taking the match 2-1.

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Reach Neel Madhavan at 910-817-2671 ext. 2751 or [email protected]. Follow on Twitter at @NeelMadhavan.