Prep Roundup: UCA maintains elite status in volleyball; Cougars click in soccer

Kynnedi Routh of Wheatmore makes a play as teammate Tate McKinney looks on during a match earlier this season at Asheboro. (Scott Pelkey/Randolph Record)

Uwharrie Charter Academy has emerged as one of the top teams in Piedmont Athletic Conference volleyball.

The Eagles solidified that reputation by sweeping visiting Randleman last Thursday.

That pushed UCA’s overall record to 9-0. The Eagles and Southwestern Randolph are the only teams without a PAC blemish on their records.

The first meeting between those two teams comes Sept. 19 at Southwestern Randolph.

By defeating Randleman 25-16, 25-8, 25-21, it gave UCA five consecutive sweeps. Liza Moore’s 14 kills and six blocks paced UCA, while Chloe Painter’s 20 assists and eight kills were among the highlights.

Earlier in the week, a 25-14, 26-24, 25-17 victory at Trinity included Moore’s 10 kills and five blocks and Kenzie Hill’s 18 digs. Trinity’s Kaitlyn McCoy had 22 digs and 13 kills.

Southwestern Randolph won a clash with host Randleman last week with a 20-25, 25-15, 16-25, 25-16, 15-13 outcome.

Madelyn Smith had 18 kills and 15 digs, Riley Key provided 15 kills, Gracie Hodgin posted 13 kills, Raegan LeRoy racked up 35 assists and 13 digs and Coley Shiflet had 34 digs.

For Randleman, Karli Kennington had 26 digs, Camden Scott supplied 18 kills and 17 digs, Haley Hinshaw delivered 13 kills and nine digs and Camryn Vickery provided 42 assists and 24 digs.

Later in the week, Southwestern Randolph topped Eastern Randolph 25-16, 25-10, 25-15 with LeRoy’s 25 assists, Shiflet’s 22 digs, Smith’s 13 kills, Key’s 13 kills and Hodgin’s 12 kills the top numbers. Addie Flinchum had 12 kills for Eastern Randolph.

Eastern Randolph’s 25-17, 21-25, 26-24, 25-18 victory against visiting Wheatmore included 38 assists from Kenly Whitaker, 18 digs from Kaylee Courtemanche, 16 kills from Flinchum and seven aces from Logan Beaver.

Boys’ soccer

Fernando Hernandez tallied five goals as Southwestern Randolph rolled up a 10-0 victory against visiting South Stanly. Kaleb Freeman and Bernadino Zuniga both had two goals.

That was the Cougars’ only game of the week, upping their record to 7-1 going into PAC action this week.

It has been tough going for PAC teams in non-conference competition.

Only Southwestern Randolph, Trinity (6-1) and UCA (4-1-1) held winning records prior to conference games beginning.

Still, Randleman might be on the uptick with victories last week against visiting Lexington 3-1 and at Class 4-A team Western Guilford by 2-1.

** Diego Bustamante scored twice, but Asheboro tied 2-2 at unbeaten West Forsyth in Friday’s non-conference game. All the scoring took place in the second half.

Asheboro’s record went to 7-1-1. West Forsyth moved to 5-0-2.

Earlier in the week, Asheboro topped host West Iredell 1-0 on Carlos Gonzalez’s goal.

** Uwharrie Charter Academy won 5-1 against winless Woods Charter on Friday in its first game at Zoo City Sportsplex, which will serve as the site of its new home field.