Aug. 26—In years past, a visit to Triton for a volleyball match was about as much fun as chewing tacks. The Lady Hawks won their conference championship almost every year for more than a decade, and even after that run ended, they have been among the top teams in the All-American Conference the past two years.

On Thursday evening, Lee County headed down the road to Triton and tried to avenge a loss they had taken last week, but were unable to upend the Lady Hawks, falling 25-13, 25-22, 25-19 to fall to 2-3 on the season.

The Lady Jackets had their chances in the second and third sets, but were unable to complete a second-set comeback and then let a four-point lead in set three slip away.

In the first set, Triton pulled away down the stretch by winning 12 of the final 15 points and then stayed hot in set two, reeling off five straight points early to lead 7-2. The Lady Jackets battled back to get within three on a mini-run capped by a service ace by Cearah Stringfellow, but then lost serve on an unforced error and Triton's Sydney Bradham returned the favor with back-to-back aces of their own as the home team moved in front 14-9. The Lady Jackets trailed by as many as six before Mylee Mitchell got a block and Megan Hunter served an ace. However, with Lee holding serve at 19-16, a double-hit violation was called and Triton capitalized, holding the upper hand all the way to set point. Here, the Lady Jackets fought back hard, saving three set points and getting to 24-22 before luck went against them, as a ball rolled across the tape of the net and then dropped on Lee's side with the winner for the Lady Hawks.

The Lady Jackets might have won set three if they had only served better, but Lee committed eight service errors in a set it ultimately lost by six points. However, they started off well despite the shaky serving. When they led 10-6 at one point, Lee had won 18 of the previous 30 points, and had lost just eight points on the floor, the other four being bad serves. However, the Lady Hawks mounted a rally and tied the set at 12, then took the lead on back-to-back kills by Mary Pope. Then Lee responded and retook a 16-14 lead on a run capped by another Stringfellow ace. Unfortunately, this was the Lady Jackets' last hurrah. Triton ended the match on an 11-3 run.

The Lady Jackets will host Union Pines on Tuesday evening in their Sandhills Athletic Conference opener.