Staff report

HENDERSONVILLE — When Carson won the critical points to pull out the first set another Cougar volleyball victory looked possible, but West Henderson dominated the next three sets to take a 24-26, 25-15, 25-7 and 25-16 victory on Tuesday.

Top-seeded West Henderson (24-2) hasn’t lost since Sept. 14  and advances to the 3A West Regional final against second-seeded North Iredell.

Carson (27-6) had won 21 of 22 matches coming into the fourth-round matchup, but struggled and got out of synch after a strong first set.

Katy Falkowski and Riley Wilhite had key kills late in the first set.

Carson led 3-2 after two Reese Joyner kills in the early stages of the second set, but West Henderson went on a run to go up 6-3 and kept the momentum for the rest of the set — and the match. Carson was hanging in there at 15-12, but West Henderson scored four straight points to take control.

West Henderson dominated the third set from the outset. The last tie was at 1-all. Carson used a timeout after falling behind 5-1, and had to use its second one down 11-2, but there was no stopping West Henderson.

West Henderson jumped on the Cougars again in the fourth set, taking a quick 6-1 lead.

It was 24-12 before Carson ran off four straight points to make the final score respectable.