CREEDMOOR — South Granville moved to 11-3 on the season with a win Tuesday night in the first round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A playoffs against East Duplin.

The Lady Vikings defeated the Lady Panthers 3-1 for the right to play Thursday night in the second round.

The teams were evenly matched. South Granville a sixth seed and East Duplin an 11th seed battled hard in the first set.

The Lady Panthers took a 10-4 lead forcing coach Abby Hooker to call a timeout to settle the Lady Vikings.

Graci Brown and Sydney Wrenn trimmed the East Duplin lead with winners at the net.

Nicolette Thompson tipped the ball over for a point and Wrenn followed with an easy tap to trim the East Duplin lead to 12-8.

South Granville continued to battle at the net. Thompson scored on a kill and then a block. DeYonna Brodie dropped an ace in the back corner of the court and Brown spiked the ball for the Lady Vikings.

South Granville was on a roll and took an 18-15 lead on a Brown kill.

Back-to-back unforced errors by the Lady Panthers extended the lead to 20-15.

South Granville poured it on with Brown, Wrenn and Samantha Piotrowski scoring. The Lady Vikings claimed the first set 25-19.

South Granville opened the second set with a Thompson kill and a dink by Madison Staton. Brown added a kill for a 4-2 lead.

East Duplin continued to battle and tied the second set at 5 apiece.

Staton’s service winner gave the Lady Vikings a boost and pushed the lead to 12-9.

East Duplin kept fighting back and pulled to within 1 point at 14-13.

Thompson blocked the next Lady Panther’s shot to keep the lead for South Granville.

The Lady Panther’s rallied to take a 17-16 lead, but Emily Laws kill tied the set for the Lady Vikings.

The teams traded points and the lead until Brown delivered a devastating kill. Brodie served another winner and the Lady Vikings took the second set 25-23.

East Duplin opened the third set with a 6-1 run. South Granville slowly got back in the set with huge defensive plays on the back line by Makayla Wicker and Thompson and Brown kills.

South Granville finally captured the lead 10-9 with Megan Ellis serving.

Thompson continued to call on Staton to set the ball for rocketing kills.

East Duplin was finally able to break serve and take a 19-16 lead. Thompson and Piotrowski managed to give the Lady Vikings a 23-21 lead. Thompson pushed the lead to 24-22 with a massive kill. East Duplin fought back and won the third set 27-25.

Leading 2-1, South Granville wasted little time dispatching the Lady Panthers in the fourth set.

Thompson ruled the net in the deciding set as the Lady Vikings topped East Duplin 25-14.

With the 3-1 win, South Granville moved the second round of the 2A playoffs and will travel to LaGrange to face the North Lenoir Lady Hawks.

North Lenoir defeated Randleman 3-0 in the opening round.

The Lady Hawks, a third seed, enter the contest with a 10-0 record.

The second round contest is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 14.

No statistics were available at press time.