The last two weeks haven't been kind to Siloam Springs volleyball. Nor has the competition.
The Lady Panthers dropped their fourth straight 7A/6A-West Conference match -- and fifth in a row overall -- Thursday as Conway picked up a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-21, 25-21) at Panther Activity Center.
All three games were tight affairs, but the Lady Wampus Cats (9-3, 4-1) seemed to be at their best when things got close.
Conway coach Laura Crow was happy to see her team stepping up and playing hard after a long trip up to Northwest Arkansas.
"I am proud of them for getting off the bus and playing tonight," Crow said.
Sophomore Aly Brinkley led Conway with 14 kills, while senior Alexa Hreha had 13 kills.
Brinkley had five of those kills in the match-clinching game three, while Hreha had three in the final set.
Conway senior setter Sara Nethercutt had 40 assists, while junior Payton Lindsey had 26 digs.
Siloam Springs seniors Baily Cameron, Mirna Torres and sophomore Arika Johnson each had six kills for Siloam Springs. Johnson had eight assists and junior Sidney Avery had 16 assists. Senior Taylor Gay had 25 digs, while Madisyn Fullerton had 14 digs and Sierra Cifuentes 11 digs.
Siloam Springs coach Rose Cheek-Willis said the Lady Panthers played hard and gave good effort.
"I was proud of the kids," she said. "They did not lay down at all."
It's the Lady Panthers' second loss to Conway this season. The Lady Wampus Cats won 2-1 in the semifinals of the Little Rock Spikefest on Sept. 6.
Since then the Lady Panthers (7-7, 1-4) have been swept by Greenwood, at Russellville and lost 3-1 at Van Buren heading into Thursday's conference match against Conway.
"It's been hard for these kids to take their lumps," Cheek-Willis said. "We're going to try and keep fighting and find a way."
Siloam Springs returns to the court Tuesday at home against Alma in important conference games between 6A teams.
Van Buren 3, Siloam Springs 0
The Siloam Springs Lady Panthers dropped their third straight match Tuesday with a 3-1 loss (25-16, 21-25, 25-22, 25-21) at Van Buren.
The Lady Pointers took the first game, but the Lady Panthers came back to tie the match 1-1 with a win in game two. Siloam Springs led game three 11-7, but Van Buren rallied to take a 20-16 and wound up winning.
The Lady Pointers finished off the Lady Panthers with a 25-21 win in game four.
Bailey Cameron led the Lady Panthers with 10 kills, while Mirna Torres had seven and Laura Salley six, Arika Johnson five and Sierra Cifuentes four.
Cameron also had a solo block and two block assists, while Salley, Torres and Johnson each had two block assists.
Sidney Avery led with 13 assists, while Johnson had 10 assists. Avery had two aces, while Cameron, Cifuentes, Madisyn Fullerton and Taylor Gay each had one ace.
Gay led with 20 digs, while Cifuentes had 12 digs and Fullerton 11 digs.
Sports on 09/21/2014