The Newton High School volleyball team came away with a dominant 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-17) win against Salem High School Thursday night at home.

The Rams got off to a hot start in the first set, scoring the first five points for a 5-0 lead over the Seminoles. Salem then scored the next three of out five points to cut the lead to 7-4, but the Rams continued to pad on the points, going up 13-6 to force a Salem timeout. The Seminoles failed to hang around, and Newton took the first set 25-14.

Salem rebounded quickly at the start of the second set with three straight points over the Rams. The Seminoles smothered Newton on offense, scoring 10 of the next 16 points for a 14-7 lead. The Rams then went on a 4-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 14-11 and force the Seminoles to call time and regroup. Newton then began to take advantage of Salem’s mistakes, turning a once seven-point lead by the Seminoles into a 16-16 tie off a service point by Moriah Milon.

Milon gave the Rams a 17-16 lead with another service point, and Newton kept its foot on the gas for the remainder of the set to win 25-20.

The Rams dominated set three from the very beginning, taking an 18-3 lead halfway through. Salem slowly started to chip away at their lead, however, cutting the lead to 11 after a 5-0 run for a 22-11 score. A kill by Newton’s Angel Durrette and a bad serve by Salem gave the Rams a 24-14 lead for the game point, but the Seminoles put the pressure on, scoring five straight points before Newton could finally seal the victory. During the run, head coach Shandelyn Carter called a timeout to talk it over with her team.

“I told them to calm down and breathe,” she said, of her team struggling to get the final point of the set.

The Rams had 20 aces in the game versus nine service errors. Junior Alyssa Norton ended the game with four kills and two attacks, while Durrette and sophomore Justice Walker pitched in three kills each.

Walker also had five of the team’s service aces, followed by Durrette and Milon with four and three, respectively.
According to Carter, the Rams still have a lot to work on despite the 3-0 victory.

“We still have some issues with coverage, but overall I think they’re learning how to play with each other,” she said.

The Rams are now 5-7 overall this season and will face Providence Christian School on Tuesday, Sept. 6 in Oxford, Georgia.