Dusty Alexander slammed ho-me nine kills and Craig Brooks bashed three more as visiting Nansemond River (5-2) breezed to a 15-5, 15-8 win over crosstown rival Lakeland (0-8) on Thursday afternoon.

&uot;This game shows who’s the best in Suffolk,&uot; said Brad Frizzell, who served two aces. &uot;This game was never in doubt. Even if we’d have lost the second game, we still would have won the third.&uot;

Casey Butler started the match by blasting an ace past the Cavalier defense, but the teams exchanged possession nine times before another point was scored. Then Chris Case, aided by Alexander’s first ace, slammed over four points for a 5-0 lead.

Ken Gaskins served Lakeland’s first point, but Brooks knocked over an ace and Alexander another kill to extend the lead to 10-1. The Cavaliers got to 10-5 on the serving of Thomas Rose and Marcus Artis, but Brandon Weinstein and Casey Butler knocked over aces and Alexander another kill to end the match.

Alexander picked up where he’d left off in the second game, driving home two kills before Lakeland even scored. But with the Warriors up 5-1, Gaskins smoked two serves into Nanse-mond River territory to get as close as 5-3.

After each team rattled off three more points, Frizzell went to the serving line and blasted his team to a 10-6 lead. Jake Conrad and Chris Joyce knocked over points for the Cavaliers, but two aces from Frizzell and one from Daryl Rice ended the match,

&uot;I was hoping to get it in, because I’d stepped over the line before,&uot; Rice said of his last serve.

In female competition, Ashley Cox recorded six kills (one of which ended the match) as the Nansemond River girls defeated Lakeland 15-8, 15-8 Thursday, improving their record to 4-3.

&uot;This was an important game for us,&uot; said Cox, a junior. &uot;With all the hype about playing our rival team, this game should have been over a lot sooner than it was.&uot;

Nansemond River will host Deep Creek at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.