The North Moore volleyball team swept Yadkin Valley Conference foe South Stanly in three sets Tuesday, 25-12, 25-20, 26-24.

After cruising to an easy first set win, the Lady Mustangs had close battles in the final two sets. South Stanly tied the second set at 16 before North Moore was able to pull away for the 25-20 win.

In the third set, South Stanly fought back from an 11-6 deficit to open a 14-16 advantage before a Rachel Garner service run powered the Lady Mustangs back in front. They held on for the 26-24 victory, sealing the sweep.

"We're really excited," Coach Melissa Cox said after the match. "We had a hard practice yesterday trying to get the girls motivated. It's not over. They're excited. We just gotta keep on those little detailed things that we know. But I'm very pleased with them, very pleased with everybody who went in and had a big part in that. They knew their role."

Shakorya Brower led the team with 10 kills. Cadie Lowe had 15 assists. Caroline Childers, Rachel Garner and Jamie Garner each had three service aces.

The Lady Mustangs are back in action Thursday night against North Rowan for Senior Night and Pink Night. The Yadkin Valley Conference tournament begins next week.

The JV Mustangs won their match against South Stanly as well, 25-10, 23-25, 25-21.

O'Neal Tennis Tops FCS

The O'Neal School girls tennis team got back on track with a strong 8-1 win over conference opponent Fayetteville Christian at the Fayetteville Racket Club.

In singles, Brianna Ek defeated Leslie Smith 6-4, 6-3. Amelia Schirmer took the only loss, a hard fought battle against Kelsea Chapman 6-1, 6-3.

At No. 3 singles Victoria Scarpa defeated Victoria Vines 6-1, 6-1, Mary Garner defeated Katherine Connell 6-0, 6-0, Maggie Hakas defeated Stephanie Perez 6-3, 6-3 and eighth-grader Greyson Keel came back from a 4-0 deficit to win 7-5, 6-1 over Marliese Graham.

In doubles, Ek and Scarpa defeated Chapman and Smith 8-4, Schirmer and Garner defeated Vines and Connell 8-4 and Jordan Fisher and Ally Hoehen-Saric defeated Perez and Graham 8-4.

In an exhibition doubles Hakas and Keel defeated Myra Rhode and Jalen Haney 8-2.

O'Neal improved to 8-3 (6-2 in the Cape Fear Independent Conference) while Fayetteville Christian dropped to 7-5 (5-3).

On Oct. 5, the Lady Falcons beat Fayetteville Academy 9-0, marking their sixth victory in a row after posting a 1-2 start.

On Oct. 7, Cape Fear Academy - the defending NCISAA 2A state champions - snapped the O'Neal win streak with a 9-0 win.

Vike Booters Take

Over Second Place

Two days after battling league foe Gray's Creek to an eventual 3-3 tie, the Union Pines soccer team took over sole possession of second place in the Cape Fear Valley Conference standings Wednesday with a 2-1 win against Western Harnett.

The Viking victory, coupled with a Gray's Creek 4-2 loss to first place Southern Lee (14-2, 7-0 CFV), saw Union Pines improve to 6-1-1 in league play and 6-4-2 overall. Third place Gray's Creek (7-4-6) is now 5-2-1 in league action.

At halftime of Wednesday's match in Lillington, Union Pines and the homestanding Eagles were tied at 1.

Fresh off a hat trick in his team's pivotal draw against Gray's Creek Monday, Vike senior captain Allen Cha scored the game-winning goal in the 54th minute to bring the Union Pines final margin of victory to 2-1.

With the win, Union Pines is unbeaten in its last six CFVC matches, having amassed a league record of 5-0-1 over that stretch. Cha now has a total of 15 goals of the season and has scored eight goals in his last four games.

The Vikings are back in action Monday when they hit the road to take on Westover in a CFVC match. Union Pines topped Westover 10-0 via the mercy rule in the teams' first meeting this season.

PHS XC Wins Final Meet

Alexa Zoellner and Graham Hawes paced the Pinecrest girls and boys to victories in the final regular season conference cross country tri-meet held at Scotland County High School on Tuesday.

The Southeastern Conference Championship Meet will be held at the Elks Club course in Southern Pines next Tuesday. The boys' 5K race begins at 5 p.m. The Patriot girls make a bid for their 19th conference title in a row at 5:30 p.m.

The Patriot girls posted the 12 fastest times in defeating the home team and Richmond Senior in the race at Scotland. George Hayes was second and Tyler Clark was third as the Patriot boys also finished in first place by a comfortable margin.

Top 10 finishers - Boys - Graham Hawes (P) 17:50, George Hayes (P) 17:59, Tyler Clark (P) 17:59, Randy Autman (R) 18:28, Brandon Gibson (S) 18:32, Eli Locklear (R) 19:01, Chris Kelly (P) 19:41, Garrett Williams (P) 19:43, Andrew Teitjen (S) 19:48, Nolan Pierce (S) 19:57; Girls - Alexa Zoellner (P) 20:17, Jennie Cunningham (P) 20:32, Mulloy Manning (P) 21:38, Sarah Pressley (P) 21:38, Hayden Rudd (P) 21:40, Kara Zoellner (P) 21:54, Katana Lemelin (P) 21:58, Beth Hieronymus (P) 22:33, Hana Bornhorst (P) 22:46, Katie Hayes (P) 22:46.