In a marathon match that went deep into the night Tuesday, the Hornets lost their final match of the season in five games to North Stanly. The Comets’ 14-16, 15-12, 15-10, 9-15, 15-13 victory ended the Salisbury careers of Amy Steelman and Alexis Lineberry, who looked like they were trying to stretch out their last match forever.

“I think they were,”said Hornets coach Bob Beiter with a laugh. “I’m tired.”

Lineberry got the Hornets off and running in the 2ACentral Carolina Conference battle with a few quick service points in the opening game. The Hornets looked strong after racing to a 7-1 lead, but North Stanly closed fast behind Cassie Hinson and Tiana Harris and took a 14-13 edge.

Salisbury junior JenReilly’s kill gave the Hornets a side out before a Lineberry hit tied the game, and two strong Reilly serves ended the first match with the Hornets up.

Both teams searched for an advantage in the second game and couldn’t find one in a see-saw battle that saw ties at 2-2, 3-3, 5-5, 10-10 and 12-12 before Comet Nikki Russell scored three straight points to put her team ahead for good.

Steelman gave the Hornets an 8-6 lead in Game 3 when she served for four straight points, but with the match tied at 10-all, Russell again used her strong serve to pace a 5-0 run that had the Comets up 2-1.

“I think the other team did its fundamentals better than we did,”Beiter said. “We weren’t using three hits every time and that really killed us. Especially with Jen Reilly in the front row, if you don’t set her and just bump the ball over that just gives them a free hit.”

Reilly connected on eight kills through the first three games before getting some help at the net from Lineberry in the fourth.

Junior Deana Teis also had a strong fourth game with seven points and the Hornets had an easy time tying the match.

The Comets andHornets again tried to take command of the match in the fifth game, but neither team led by more than two points until Jennifer Farmer’s kill gave North Stanly a 12-9 edge. Three straight points from Reilly tied the game and Kristen Bost got Salisbury to a 13-13 tie, but two good serves from Dana Edwards finally put an end to it.

“I think we were both tired,”Steelman said. “It was kind of a luck game.”

Reilly paced the Salisbury effort with 20 points — including six aces — and 11 kills, while Russell added 17 points and six kills and Harris had seven kills to lead the Comets.

Steelman added 12 points and Lineberry eight points, four kills and a couple of blocks to their four years of memories on an emotional evening.

“I thought this would be the year,”said Lineberry, disappointed in the Hornets’ one-win season.

But she’ll remember the bus trips and the bruised knees — “and I know everybody’s secrets.”

And even though the Hornets struggled after losing four starters throughout the 1999 season, Steelman still was happy with the effort.