LUMBERTON — The first objective of scholastic sports — of games — is to have fun.

The Lumberton volleyball team accomplished that Thursday, perhaps more than it has all season. In doing so, they also accomplished an additional objective, defeating visiting South View in a 3-0 sweep.

“The more fun they’re having the better they’re playing,” Lumberton coach Kali Carter said. “It’s always important to have fun. I tell them, you’ve got to take it serious, you’ve got to know when you can joke around, and when OK, hey, we need to get back into it. … Tonight, I think they did pretty good with cheering each other on and enjoying the game.”

Lumberton (8-7, 4-6 United-8 Conference) got back in the win column after losing their previous four outings.

“I think we all played together,” the Pirates’ Kaylee Lancaster said. “We had more fun playing during the game than all our other games. We worked as a team and communicated better. … I just think we had more fun, we had more fun playing. We were more consistent than we usually are, and we needed this win.”

The Pirates’ win came after a five-set loss to South View (6-10, 2-7 United-8) in the first meeting between the teams on Sept. 5.

“Definitely a lot more communication in our back row, filtering our ball a little more from just relying on our outside (hitters), but also to our middles and even right-sides and back row,” Carter said. “And still attitudes overall; they really talked to each other more and cheered each other on more, and better attitudes in the end.”

Lumberton jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the first set, then scored seven of the next eight points for a 17-7 lead. The Tigers never got closer than a seven-point gap the rest of the set, and Lumberton won the set 25-16.

The Pirates stayed hot in the second set, leading 15-5. An 8-3 stretch by South View pulled the Tigers to a 22-17 deficit, but an Ava Hanna kill flipped the momentum back to the Pirates, who scored the last three points of the set to win 25-17.

South View scored the first five points of the third set, and maintained the lead at 11-5; Lumberton tied the set at 12-12, and the set went back and forth until it was tied at 18-18. The Pirates then finished on a 7-2 run to win the set 25-20 and clinch the match victory.

Lumberton’s success was driven by strong play from both its back row and its front row. Back-row production included 19 digs by Lancaster, with three assists and three kills, and 17 digs by Alona Hanna, who also had 15 kills.

“I think our back row’s really making a difference in the way we’re playing,” Carter said. “I think our biggest problem starting out the season was we had the defense but not the offense, we couldn’t put the ball away. Now that we’re able to pick up those balls and filter to our hitters, we can say hey, put the ball here, and we can find more holes open on the court on the other team’s side.”

Up front, Ava Hanna had 12 kills and Annabelle Horrigan and Florence Ferguson each had three blocks.

“I’m proud of them — they’re really using their height as an advantage,” Carter said. “We’ve always been a shorter team and now we’ve got a couple of tall girls on the front row, so that does help a lot.”

The Pirates host undefeated and league-leading Gray’s Creek on Tuesday.

Jack Britt defeats Lady Rams

The Purnell Swett volleyball team lost Thursday’s United-8 Conference match to Jack Britt, 3-0.

Jack Britt (13-3, 8-2 United-8) earned set wins of 25-15, 25-23 and 25-19 over the Rams.

Anileigh Locklear had seven kills and 15 digs for Purnell Swett (5-11, 1-7 United-8). Yasmine Lucas had nine kills, two blocks and five digs; Adisyn Bland had six kills and eight assists; and Calista Lewis had three aces, two kills and 10 assists.

The Rams play Tuesday at South View.

St. Pauls falls to Midway

The St. Pauls volleyball team lost 3-1 at Midway Thursday in a battle for first place in the Southeastern Athletic Conference.

Midway (11-4, 5-0 Southeastern) won each of the first two sets by scores of 25-18. St. Pauls won the third set 25-13; Midway claimed the fourth set 25-12 to win the match.

The teams both entered the match undefeated in league play. They will meet again in the regular-season finale Oct. 17 in St. Pauls.

St. Pauls hosts Jack Britt in a nonconference match Monday before traveling to Red Springs on Tuesday.