LITTLEFIELD — Ayden-Grifton’s volleyball team discovered that it can go home again — and not a moment too soon.

The Chargers rallied to beat J.H. Rose 3-2 (23-25, 25-13, 21-25, 25-12 and 15-8) in a nonconference match Thursday at Bob Murphrey Gymnasium.

The victory snapped an uncharacteristic three-match losing skid for Ayden-Grifton — all against schools in larger classifications, including one against the Rampants 10 days ago at the Rose Garden.

“This game was crucial for them to get over that hump,” Chargers coach Nicole Waters said. “If we lose, we’re going to go to 5-6. We’re going to be less than .500. The kids were like, ‘We’re not losing. We can’t lose.’ I saw it in them today. They were really relaxed and played their game.”

After dropping a first set 25-23 in which J.H. Rose’s Clara Evans had five kills and an ace and Kate Wallen added three kills, Ayden-Grifton (6-5) got to work.

“(Waters) just said, ‘Keep pushing,’” the Chargers’ Lainy Evans said. “Even if you are down, just keep fighting because wins like this feel amazing at the end.”

Ayden-Grifton got both Lainy Evans and Ashlynn Overby going at the net and finishing points.

Overby had six kills and a tip, and Lainy Evans added three kills — including one from the back line — and an ace in the second set to even the match.

J.H. Rose (8-2) went on a seven-point run to break a 14-14 tie in the third set thanks to a pair of kills by Clara Evans, an ace by Francie Taft and several errors by the Chargers en route to a 2-1 lead in sets.

Ayden-Grifton answered in the fourth set with a six-point run to break a 6-6 tie highlighted by a pair of kills by Lainy Evans, a kill by Overby and a block and a kill by Madison House.

After Lainy Evans was wide with a kill attempt, the Chargers then ran off another five consecutive points thanks to a pair of kills by Evans and two aces by Kenzie Letchworth.

“As good as we played (Wednesday night against Cleveland) — I don’t want to take anything away from Ayden-Grifton. They’re really good and they played lights-out tonight — but as good as we played last night, we played almost that poorly tonight,” J.H. Rose coach Clay Medlin said. “Totally not ourselves. We allow one or two points to turn into five or six points.

“We’ve talked about that all year, and when you play a good team like this, you cannot afford to give up a rally of five or six points at a time to dig yourself out of it.”

Leading 20-12 in the fourth set, Ayden-Grifton ran off five consecutive points on a kill by Aisha Carver, a kill by Overby, then three consecutive aces by Carver to force a fifth set.

“We’ve been playing some hard games lately against Cleveland, against Chapel Hill,” Waters said. “We really needed this. We’ve done five sets, five sets, five sets and I told the girls, ‘We just really need this. If we can get this, we can get over the hump,’ and they really fought for it.

“I saw in the fourth set that they got this.”

The Chargers proved their coach correct in the fifth, breaking a 6-6 tie to forge a 12-7 advantage thanks in part to three kills by Lainy Evans and an ace by Olivia Baker.

An ace by Lainy Evans closed out the match. She finished with 19 kills, four tips, two blocks and a pair of aces. Overby had 18 kills and two tips.

“When they’re both on, it’s unstoppable,” Waters said. “Sometimes, we get one on and one’s off, but tonight they were both on and you could just tell. It was remarkable.”

Also remarkable was Ayden-Grifton’s 10-match odyssey to start the season that had the team traveling all over the state to play matches against strong competition in larger classifications not only to test themselves, but also to prepare for what the Chargers expect will be a long postseason run.

But in addition to the high level of competition, Lainy Evans and her teammates experienced a fortunate byproduct of such trips and tribulations.

“A lot of team bonding,” she said. “We went to Busch Gardens as a team, and we’ve been so close on and off the court. Riding buses together. Eating. We’re doing so much as a team that I feel our chemistry and culture is so good this year.”

Still, Ayden-Grifton was glad to come back home, and all the sweeter to get a win against a program in Pitt County that went to the state championship match, returning everyone this season.

“We struggled a little bit and being back here is amazing,” Lainy Evans said. “Everybody is so positive on the court, and traveling everywhere, we knew we were going to play tough competition, but coming back here, we knew this was going to be a very tough game. For us to finally come back has been amazing.”

“It felt really good. I almost forgot about this place,” Waters deadpanned in reference to Murphrey Gymnasium.

Turning serious again, Waters said she has been pleased with what she has seen, focusing more on team growth and improvement and not making everything about the won-loss record.

“They’ve exceeded my expectations,” she said. “We’ve been on the road and playing these grueling games, but they’ve been locked in, they’ve been focused.”

The loss snapped a four-match win streak for J.H. Rose. Clara Evans finished with 16 kills and an ace, and Wallen added eight kills.

Wallen’s game has improved by leaps and bounds and has not been lost on Medlin.

“She’s been phenomenal,” he said of the junior. “She’s given a new option on who to set. The set doesn’t have to be perfect for her. She’s able to go get it side to side, front to back. She has given us another option with blocking, which is phenomenal. Much more athletic and much quicker.”

On Tuesday, J.H. Rose will open Big Carolina 6A/7A Conference play by hosting South Central. Ayden-Grifton will start Eastern Plains 2A/3A Conference action with a home match against Kinston.

“I think they’re going to be ready,” Waters said. “I think they’re happy to be home. We’re looking for the ‘A’ game here, so this little journey we’ve been on is for a bigger purpose.”

North Johnston 3, North Pitt 1

The Panthers could not build on Wednesday’s first win of the season in their third consecutive match day on Thursday.

NP (1-9) defeated Goldsboro, 3-1, for its initial win of the campaign but lost by the same score Thursday.

The Panthers travel to North Lenoir on Tuesday.

SouthWest Edgecombe 3, Greene Central 0

The Rams fell back to .500 in their 10th match of the season on Thursday night in Pinetops.

GC (5-5) claimed a five-setter against the Cougars two days previous, but could not find a set win in the second meeting.

Greene Central hosts Tarboro on Tuesday.

Farmville Central 3, North Pitt 0

The Jags remained perfect in a Tuesday sweep of struggling North Pitt on Tuesday, winning 25-12, 25-10, 25-8.

Senior Madison Denham smashed 11 kills and had eight digs, sophomore Michelle Wirth added 10 kills, 11 digs and five aces, senior Isabella Cox had 24 assists, seven kills, seven digs and four aces, sophomore Kendall Kingrey ran up eight aces, 15 digs and seven assists and senior Corri Houston added six kills for Farmville.

The Jaguars (7-0) travel to Beddingfield next Tuesday.

Holmes 3, John Paul II 0

The Saints fell to 1-5 on the season Thursday night against a Holmes team that improved to 10-0.

The Aces cruised to 25-8, 25-17 and 25-13 set wins.

JPII played at Faith on Friday and travels to Wayne Christian on Tuesday.

BOYS’ SOCCER

D.H. Conley 1, Northside Jacksonville 1

The Vikings settled for a draw on Wednesday night but remained unbeaten this season.

Conley scored first with a goal from senior Cole Martin in the first half before the Monarchs countered to tie it 1-1.

The Vikings (3-0-2) travel to Greene Central on Monday.

North Pitt 4, Holmes 1

The Panthers pounded home two goals in each half and rolled to their third win in the last four matches on Thursday.

North Pitt (4-1-2) play at Southside on Tuesday.

Greene Central 4, Washington 2

The inevitable happened on Wednesday night as the Rams ran away from the Pam Pack for their first win of the season.

GC (1-2-2) takes on D.H. Conley on Monday in Snow Hill.

North Lenoir 7, Ayden-Grifton 2

The Chargers could not find their first win of the season against the Hawks, who completed a convincing season sweep on Thursday night.

North Lenoir outscored A-G 16-3 in the two meetings. On Thursday, the Hawks scored led 4-1 at the half.

The Chargers (0-3) host Eastern Wayne on Monday.

Fike 5, South Central 1

The Falcons could not keep pace with a Fike team that led 2-0 at the half on Thursday and piled in three more goals in the second.

The lone South Central goal came from senior Julio Loya on a feed from senior Jordan Smith.

SC (0-4) plays at South Johnston on Monday.

GIRLS’ TENNIS

J.H. Rose 8, Jacksonville 1

The Rampants jumped out to 2-0 in Big Carolina Conference play on Thursday with a convincing win over the Cardinals.

Rose (2-1 overall) swept the singles round, lost at No. 1 doubles but won the other two in the round.

Recording singles wins for JHR were Chloe Yount, Isabella Dameron, Vita Varney, Milly Williams, Eliza McCall and Everett Litchfield. The doubles teams of Joely Murchison/Eleanor Vinson and Michelle Ahn/Allie Howard completed the victory.

Rose hosts White Oak on Tuesday.