HOBGOOD – It was a program first.

Northeast Academy collected their first-ever victory in the Tarheel Independent Conference Volleyball Tournament here Tuesday afternoon.

The Lady Eagles downed Ridgecroft School in four-sets to secure a trip to the semifinals of the TIC tourney. They were scheduled to meet Lawrence Academy yesterday (Wednesday) in a game that finished too late for press time.

Ridgecroft won the first game 25-23, but Northeast roared back to win 25-9, 25-19 and 25-23.

“The second game set the tone for us,” said Lady Eagles’ skipper Cap Pfeiffer. “Jennifer Sykes had 12 straight serves including seven aces for us and then Kelly Sykes closed it out with six straight serves.”

In the third games, it was Sarah Taylor Best who rolled off six straight serves to help Northeast take a 23-18 victory.

“In game four, we were down 19-13 and Kelly came through again with six straight serves to get us back in it,” Pfeiffer said. “Our serving was definitely the key today.”

In all, the Lady Eagles recorded 18 aces on the afternoon, led by 10 from Jennifer Sykes. Kelly Sykes and Lacy Pfeiffer added four aces each while Brittany Bolton recorded two.

Overall, Jennifer Sykes had 13 assists, eight kills, six digs and six tips to go with the 10 aces. Pfeiffer added four kills, two digs, one block and one tip while Kelly Sykes had five kills, five assists, four digs and two blocks.

Lauren Edwards had six kills during the victory to go with five digs, two tips and an ace. Best added one ace.

The win boosted Northeast to 14-7 overall for the season and leaves them in a position to garner a playoff berth in the North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association state tournament for the first time in school history.

JV Volleyball

The Northeast Academy junior varsity squad also advanced in the TIC tournament as they defeated Ridgecroft School 20-25, 26-24 and 15-8.

“This was amazing,” Pfeiffer said. “In the second set we were down 19-11 and eight straight serves including four aces by Kelsey Lassiter brought us back. The girls never game up. I’m proud of them.”

Lassiter had five aces during the afternoon and one kill while Lindsey Bryant had seven kills, five tips, two aces, two digs and two assists. Taylor King added three aces, one dig and one assist.

Chelsea Rose had three aces, two digs and a tip while Ashlee Flythe had 10 assists to go with two tips and one kill.