Nansemond River’s girls swept King’s Fork in three straight games Tuesday night at The Kennel 25-15, 25-17, 25-18 behind another solid night from the trio of Sarah McDonald, April Hines and Shannon Andy. McDonald set up 16 assists, primarily to Hines, who had 10 kills, and Andy who had eight.

King’s Fork broke out in the first game, beginning with four straight points on Leigh Anne Sexton’s serve, and continuing on to a 7-1 lead.

River cut down on their errors and the Lady Bulldog lead was down to 11-10 when Fork used a timeout.

The break, however, helped the Lady Warriors as nine of the next 10 points went for River, mostly on Sarah Brooks’ serve.

&uot;We started off pretty slow,&uot; said River coach Nancy Richey. &uot;We were playing flat for whatever reason, but we hung in there and once we got our confidence back and got some momentum, then we were OK out there.&uot;

River closed out the first game with a 15-4 run, which included five assists from McDonald.

Another late surge put game two in River’s column. With River holding an 18-15 lead, the Lady Warriors took control, winning seven of the last nine points.

Andy served out the final two points, with Andy and McDonald switching roles, Andy assisting a McDonald kill for the only time of the match, to get to game point; and then Andy’s fourth ace of the match finished the game.

The Lady Warriors ran out to a 7-0 lead in game three, and although the Lady Bulldogs briefly closed to within a point at 9-8 with two Rachel Bailor aces and two Whitney Holland kills, River kept the lead throughout the final game.

Hines, in addition to her kills, finished with five aces.

River’s Britney Pulliam and Fork’s Holland each recorded two blocks.

&uot;King’s Fork has some excellent athletes already out there, especially for this being only their second year for their program,&uot; said Richey.

The two cross-town schools meet again at Nansemond River on Oct. 13.

In the near term both teams are back in action tonight; River hosts Oscar Smith and the Lady Bulldogs go to Western Branch.

andrew.giermak@suffolknewsherald.com