FAYETTEVILLE -- The Siloam Springs volleyball team didn't win either of its benefit matches on Thursday against Class 7A schools Fayetteville or Springdale Har-Ber, but longtime head coach Rose Cheek-Willis didn't come away disappointed.
"Those kids never backed down," said Cheek-Willis as the Lady Panthers lost 25-15, 28-26 to Fayetteville and 25-13, 25-16 to Har-Ber.
"You would think being as young as we are, we would be intimidated," said Cheek-Willis, before adding that at one point Siloam Springs had two freshmen and one sophomore on the floor.
"We did well blocking and serving," she said. "We did have a few glitches in serve-receive. It was fun to see the growth. Defense-wise, early on we got burned on a few things, but it didn't take long for the girls to pick it up. It was good."
The Lady Panthers played Fayetteville first and led for a good bit of the second game, which ended in a 28-26 Fayetteville victory.
Senior Haley Stewart and freshman Ellie Lampton each had three kills, while junior Madison Cooper and senior Krysten Hall each had two kills. Senior Madisyn Fullerton had three kills off of back row attacks and 21 digs, Cheek-Willis said.
Freshman Chloe Price had 12 assists and a one setter dump.
Sophomore Shaylon Sharp and Cooper each had three block assists, while Stewart and Fullerton had two aces. Price had one ace.
Against Har-Ber, Stewart had two solo blocks, while Lampton had one solo block.
Cooper had three block assists, while Stewart had two and Sharp one.
Sharp led with four kills and one ace, while Hall had two kills and Cooper and Stewart each had one.
Price had nine assists, while Fullerton had 13 digs.
"We were very pleased with their effort," Cheek-Willis said.
Up next
The Lady Panthers open the season on Tuesday at home against 7A power Bentonville.
The first of two junior varsity volleyball matches will begin at 4:30 p.m. with the varsity match to start around 6:30 p.m.
Following Tuesday's game, the Lady Panthers will play at Rogers on Thursday.
"These games are good for us," Cheek-Willis said. "We need them. We can learn from them. We're going to take it as a learning experience.
"We may take our lumps early on, and that's OK. It's down the road that matters."
Sports on 08/23/2015