Falcon Power

James Franklin, Athletic Director
Kuzma takes the title for Varsity Girls Cross Country at home meet. Middle School regular season wraps up with semifinals starting next week. Varsity Volleyball holds 3rd place in regular season conference.

Middle School & Varsity Cross Country
Tuesday the varsity cross country team hosted Trinity Academy, Salem Baptist, and Burlington Christian. It was a terrific day of amazing racing and even better sportsmanship. The Falcons were gracious hosts. Molly Kuzma took the individual title for the girls 5k and Nathan Brianas finished 5th on the boys side. Charlie Kuzma had a season best and the Lady Falcons displayed tight pack running once again. 
 
The middle school boys team was victorious over Berean with a 1,2,3 sweep in Corbin Weeks, Gunnar Adams, and Matthew Fisher. Brinkley Lucas finished 2nd in the girls race and Kymaria Wall and Abigail Adams continue to improve with each week.
 

Middle School Volleyball
Game vs. Liberty Christian—Split 1-1
Match #1—(25-12, 23-25, 5-15)
Match #2—(21-25, 25-13, 15-12)
 
Game vs. Fayetteville Christian—Win 2-0
Match #1—(25-21, 25-19)
Match #2—(25-20, 25-17)
 
The Falcons finished the regular season this week with two strong games against conference opponents. Monday night the Falcons squared off against Liberty Christian. Tremendous digs from Olivia Antil and powerful serves from Mia Millard, Sara Jacobs, and Michaela Stone helped to compete against a strong Liberty team. The Falcons lost the opening match but stayed resilient and came back to win the second match.
 
Tuesday afternoon the Falcons hosted Fayetteville Christian. Both matches featured strong runs from both teams; however, the Falcon depth was too much for FCS to handle. Judy Goetzl, Taylor McGraw, Belle List and Grace Simpson all provided strong sparks off the Falcon bench with timely passes!
 
Wednesday, the Middle School Silver team took the court for their second match! The energy, enthusiasm, and teamwork displayed were tremendous. Each and every young lady showed great improvement since their first match. Kaylee Crow and Hope Johnson’s leadership throughout the match keeping everyone engaged and positive led the silver team. Sofia Afable highlighted the evening with powerful serves, at one-point scoring five straight aces! All in all, the silver team show passion, resilience and the will to complete throughout the match!
 
The Falcons end the regular season tied for second in the SEMSAC conference with a 16-4 conference record! Well done ladies! After losing the tie break coin flip, the Falcons will travel to Liberty Christian on Monday 10/7 for a 4pm semi-final game in the SEMSAC playoffs.
 
 
JV Volleyball
9/30
O’Neal - 0
Pinecrest - 2
 
10/2
O’Neal - 2
Burlington Christian - 0
 
10/3
O’Neal - 0
Grace Sanford - 2
 
JV Volleyball had a jam-packed week that started with our highly anticipated game vs Pinecrest. Playing one shy of our full line up, the girls had an incredibly strong showing despite the score favoring our opponent. Wednesday’s game vs conference opponent Burlington saw us, yet again, running a new line up that proved effective as the girls walked away victorious. Our last game of the week was a non-conference match up with Grace Christian of Sanford.
 
Outside hitter, Carly McConville, led our team in service aces this week with a total of 14 while Libero Caelan McHarney (4 aces) led in team digs with outside Kayla Brown (3 aces) following closely behind. 
 
In the week ahead, JV volleyball will face Salem Baptist on Monday, October 7 @ 4pm in the Hannah Center gym. Tuesday, October 8, JV will travel to Burlington Christian and Thursday, October 10, again in the Hannah Center, we host Trinity School of Durham Chapel Hill @ 4pm.
 
 
Varsity Volleyball
vs Pinecrest High School  Monday-September 30th
The O'Neal School  0
Pinecrest High School  3  (25-; 25-19; 25-23)
 
vs Burlington Christian Academy  Wednesday, October 2nd
The O'Neal School 3  (25-19; 25-19; 25-23)
Burlington Christian Academy 1  (26-24)
 
vs Grace Christian of Sanford  Thursday, October 4th
The O'Neal School  3  (25-16; 25-16; 25-20)
Grace Christian of Sanford  0
 
Varsity Volleyball had a stacked week of games, beginning with the ever-anticipated competition vs. Pinecrest High School.  This game has been on our radar all season.  It was a promising evening as our Lady Falcons proved their power against a rather large 4A public High School team.  We had BIG moments, quality play and strong teamwork.  Coming extremely close to winning the 3rd set is quite a feat in our book.
 
Wednesday was a rescheduled conference game vs. Burlington Christian Academy.  Our ladies hustled all over the court, rallying with BCA to make for a FUN night of volleyball.  This night was all about perseverance, as we stayed in the game, despite various ailments and perhaps some exhaustion.  Our Lady Falcons were driven to finish on top.  We were neck and neck with Burlington in conference standings, yet our win sealed the deal allowing us to maintain our position in 3rd place behind Carolina Friends School and Trinity of Durham/Chapel Hill.
 
Our final game of the week vs. Grace Christian of Sanford was Thursday.  Lady Falcons played solid with hard, vertical cross court or down the line kills from junior Holly Pashley.  Rachel Patton, senior, won, yet again, consecutive points off her incredible serve.  Emily Vest, senior, was all over the court digging out hits.  Haley Sager, senior, gave our hitters incredible sets to seal the win.  Mikaila Waldo, junior, worked the net with both big blocks and vertical hits.  Taylor Edrington, jJunior, had smooth passes.  Kayla Jenkins, junior, played smart with sneaky tips as well as played hard with tremendous attacks.
 
Next week, Lady Falcons host Salem Baptist Christian School Monday, October 7th; we travel to Burlington Christian Academy Tuesday, October 8th; our last home game of the conference season is Thursday, October 10th - SENIOR NIGHT - vs. Trinity of Durham/Chapel Hill.  Please join us to honor our three beautiful Seniors:  Rachel Patton, Haley Sager and Emily Vest.
 
 
Varsity Boys Soccer
Varsity Soccer: O’Neal Falcons vs Carolina Friends
Final score: 2-3 loss
The Falcons played in a close match against Carolina Friends on Tuesday, September 24th. In fact, O’Neal took the lead 1-0 in the first half with a goal by Jackson Martinez. The team continued to show resolve and improvement when Carolina Friends gained the lead 2-1. Instead of giving up, the Falcons increased intensity and eventually evened the score with a beautiful free kick by Joe Dailey. Unfortunately, Carolina Friends would strike again in the final minutes of the match. While the outcome was disappointing, both coaches are proud of the effort and improvement on defense and in the midfield.
 
Varsity Soccer: O’Neal Falcons vs Salem Baptist Christian School
Final score: 0-4 loss
The Falcons took the pitch against Salem Baptist on Thursday, September 26th in a very physical match. Despite a clear size advantage favoring Salem, the Falcons held their ground both defensively and in the midfield. After a slow start in the first half, the team pulled together a much better second half performance, especially in the offensive third. While the Falcons could not break the scoring barrier, they did create multiple chances and exhibited a growing improvement in combined play. 
 
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