KNIGHTDALE - A young Knightdale varsity volleyball team took a three-game bruising from conference newcomer Harnett Central Thursday afternoon.

The Lady Knights, 0-4 in the conference after the loss, dropped to Smithfield-Selma and Southeast Raleigh the week before, and Garner two days before the loss to the Trojans.

Central's damage wasn't irreparable in the first game. The group won a point more here and there, and essentially pulled away from an 8-8 tie to a 25-12 win that came on an ace from Jenny Gregory. The final streak of the first game marked a five-point run from Gregory, whose serves perplexed the Knights throughout the contest.

Knightdale - comprised of one senior, five juniors, four sophomores and a freshman - fell back early in the second game and never caught up. Gregory had more aces in game two than any individual Knightdale player tallied consecutive serves. Four of the six aces fell back-to-back from the scoring span of 20-14 to 24-14 en route to Central's 25-14 win.

When it would've been easier than ever to quit, however, the home team didn't give up.

"Overall I was not happy with the way they performed," third-year coach Sally Combs said. "But I was proud of the way they started the third game, yes."

The Lady Knights kept the final game tied at five, then at 12, before a slow decent came - once again at the hand of Gregory. The Trojans stretched a 16-13 lead into a 20-14 lead during her service, and were able to close 25-14. Knightdale's Amber Wright, Dee Taylor, Esmeralda Resendez and the lone senior Shemicka Smith worked to hold defensively at the net, but it wasn't enough in lacking in offense for the Trojans' final eight points of the game.

Despite the sweep, Combs said she didn't see anything special in Harnett Central that should have made the difference in the game so drastic. She said the Trojans are well coached and, as evidenced, they've got some girls with some pretty good serves and a big middle blocker. Beyond that she didn't see anything the Knights shouldn't have been able to handle.

"Our biggest challenge at this point is maturity with the game," Combs said. "Being able to focus and stay focused the entire time - not letting their minds drift - that's their challenge. For me it's trying to keep them motivated. They've got to realize it's a learning process and you've got to build one step at a time and just try to stay positive."