Staff report

LANDIS — South Rowan graduated several standouts from a team that shared the South Piedmont Conference championship in 2023, but the Raiders will be strong again.

South opened with a home sweep of West Rowan, always a contender in the SPC, on Monday. None of the sets were easy, but the Raiders always had a run to take control, had strong finishes and won 25-17, 25-19 and 25-20.

Jenna Horne is back as South’s head coach. Tiffany Brooks, who starred as a player at South and went on to play at Catawba Valley Community College and Lenoir-Rhyne, is the new head coach at West, replacing Jan Dowling, who had a strong run as the leader of the Falcons.

Meredith Faw led the Raiders with 15 kills and 12 digs. South got kills from a lot of places — six from Clancy Street and five each from Avery Fisher, Danica Krieg and Meghan Eagle.

Campbell Withers had 14 digs. Fisher had 12.

South uses a two-setter system. Eagle had 17 assists. Raegan Shell had 11.

The SPC teams play 16 league games and get conference play started early, so South and West have more league action on Wednesday. West is home against Lake Norman Charter. South plays at Robinson on Wednesday and is home on Thursday for a non-conference matchup with A.L. Brown.

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GRANITE QUARRY — East Rowan returns its big hitters — Cameron Ostle and Alli Corl — from a competitive team and opened with a sweep of Concord.

East beat the Spiders 25-19, 25-13 and 25-15.

Ostle had 16 kills, while Corl had eight. Madalynn Tigert had seven.

Tigert is a tough server and had seven aces.

Jacee Eudy made 11 digs, while Jordan Dry had nine.

Eudy had 26 assists.

Dry was the key Mustang on serve receive, handling 19 serves and making only one error.

Sandy Lytton returns as head coach of the Mustangs.

Gracen Osborne is the new head coach at Concord. Baseball fans may remember her father, Tate Osborne, who coached powerful Kannapolis American Legion teams in the 2000s.

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In jayvee action on Monday, West beat South 25-17, 21-25, 15-8. Makenna Barham led the Raiders with 17 digs.

Monday’s scores

South Rowan 3, West Rowan 0

East Rowan 3, Concord 0

NW Cabarrus 3, Central Cabarrus 0

Gray Stone 3, Robinson 0

Providence Grove 3, East Davidson 0