PEARCY -- Rose Cheek-Willis and Siloam Springs didn't go down without a fight Wednesday in the Class 6A state volleyball tournament.
The end result was a Jonesboro sweep of the Lady Panthers 3-0 (26-24, 25-23, 27-25) in the quarterfinals, but the Lady Hurricane won all three games by two points and two of the sets went into overtime at Wolf Arena on the campus of Lake Hamilton High School.
The loss marked the end of the 36-year career at Siloam Springs for Cheek-Willis, who is retiring at the end of the year with 566 career wins and seven state championships.
"Hall of Fame -- she's got to be in there," said Jonesboro coach Craig Cummings. "That's the legacy she's left and how many lives she's touched through the use of volleyball. Just the impact she's had in Northwest Arkansas and volleyball across the state, she's set a standard that all of us are trying to reach."
And just like their scrappy 5-foot-1 coach, the Lady Panthers (18-18) battled the bigger, more athletic Lady Hurricane (25-7) toe-to-toe on Wednesday.
"One point either way and maybe they get us in three," Cummings said. "That's the type of match it was. They didn't quit even down 0-2, but that's what you expect from them fighting for Coach Cheek."
Jonesboro, the No. 2 seed from the 6A-East, then upset 6A-West No. 1 seed Greenwood 3-2 on Thursday to advance to the state finals against 6A-East No. 1 Marion on Saturday. Results were not available at presstime.
Against Siloam Springs on Wednesday, Kandace Pointer led Jonesboro offensively with 13 kills and had 10 defensive digs.
Cameron Hafner and Clara Parker each had seven kills, while Mikayla Johnson had four kills and seven blocks.
Magan Wicker added 34 digs for the Lady Hurricane, while Bailey Tagupa had nine digs.
Shaylon Sharp led Siloam Springs offensively with 11 kills and six aces to go with 23 digs, while Ellie Lampton had eight kills. Chloe Price, who is Cheek-Willis' niece, had seven kills, 15 assists and 18 digs, while Meg Gray had 13 assists and eight digs. Andrea Lowry led with 24 digs, while Kelsey Lewis had 11 digs. Britain Castagna had four aces, while Madison Cooper had four kills and Allie Bowman two kills and two block assists.
"Although we didn't pass well tonight or block well, Jonesboro didn't either," Cheek-Willis said. "But our kids never gave up. They made up for the passing and blocking by fighting hard even in game three having two losses and being down 23-19. The girls clawed back in it."
Jonesboro was able to make a few more extra plays at the end than the Lady Panthers in games one and two, and the Lady Hurricane also had a 24-21 lead in game three.
Siloam Springs fought back to tie it at 25, but Hafner recorded a kill to set up match point for Jonesboro and the Lady Hurricane ended the match on the next play.
Cheek-Willis was proud of her team's fight, but she also was frustrated with the officials after the game and voiced her displeasure, something she hasn't done much in her career. There were two replays on crucial points and Cheek-Willis felt there were several missed calls.
"They did not lay down," Cheek-Willis said. "That's what I told them, 'Don't you dare hang your head.' When you've got to play another team and the officials at the state level, I'm telling you I'm embarrassed. I'm very embarrassed about the officiating at the state level."
Cheek-Willis won her first state title at Siloam Springs in 2001 and then guided the Lady Panthers to a state record six straight titles from 2004 to 2009. Siloam Springs reached the state title again in 2010 but lost 3-1 to Nettleton. The loss in the quarterfinals on Wednesday marks the sixth straight year the Lady Panthers have been eliminated in the state quarterfinals.
Siloam Springs 3, Searcy 0
Siloam Springs volleyball coach Rose Cheek-Willis didn't like what she saw early in Tuesday's opening round match against Searcy in the Class 6A state volleyball tournament and called timeout in game one after a Lady Panther was penalized for a net violation.
Siloam Springs led 11-7 at that point, but Cheek-Willis -- the longtime head coach who is retiring after this season -- had seen enough.
"I was embarrassed with our play," she said, citing multiple errors attributed to a lack of focus.
The Lady Panthers eventually worked the kinks out and rolled to a 3-0 (25-13, 25-7, 25-9) sweep of the Lady Lions.
Overall, though, Cheek-Willis said it wasn't one of Siloam Springs' better performances of the year.
"We didn't play well at all," she said. "We didn't play up to our potential. When Searcy was able to pass it, they hit it fairly well on us."
Following Cheek-Willis' timeout in game one, Searcy's Bree Bartlett served an ace to pull the Lady Lions within 11-8, but it was all Lady Panthers after that. Siloam Springs went on a 7-2 run to go up 18-10, and Sharp and Katie Kendrick each served aces down the stretch for a 25-13 win.
Searcy led 5-4 after a kill from Darbi Owen in game two, but the Lady Panthers got the ball back on an Ellie Lampton kill to tie the match. Elise Scarbrough then had two straight kills and Shaylon Sharp served three straight aces to go up 12-5.
Leading 14-7, Andrea Lowry stepped back to serve and wound up serving 11 straight times to end the match, including six aces. The Lady Panthers had 17 aces in game two.
Sharp had two kills to start game two. After Searcy took a 5-3 lead, Sharp then served six straight aces as Siloam Springs went up 10-5. The Lady Panthers hit the gas after that, going on a 14-2 run to take a 24-7 lead before finishing the match with an Ellie Lampton kill.
Sharp led the Lady Panthes with eight kills, eight digs and 12 aces. Lampton had seven kills and two aces, while Chloe Price had four kills, 10 assists, one ace and one block assist.
Meg Gray had 14 assists and one ace, while Madison Cooper had three kills and one block assist. Elise Scarbrough and Kendrick added two kills, while Kelsey Lewis had eight digs and Lowry seven digs and six aces. Britain Castagna had two aces.
All 18 players dressed out for Siloam Springs were able to check into the match.
"We always try to do that," Cheek-Willis said. "We want them to get that experience, get that taste. We want to them to feel like they contributed."
Sports on 10/30/2016