Lady Panthers lose pair

n The volleyball team dropped matches against Greenwood, Russellville.

Ben Goff/NWA Democrat-Gazette Chloe Price of Siloam Springs hits the ball over in game one against Greenwood during the match in Siloam Springs’ Panther Activity Center.
Ben Goff/NWA Democrat-Gazette Chloe Price of Siloam Springs hits the ball over in game one against Greenwood during the match in Siloam Springs’ Panther Activity Center.

Strong defense and solid serving helped Greenwood stay unbeaten in 6A/5A-1 Conference play on the road on Thursday night.

The Lady Bulldogs dug up rockets off the arms of Siloam Springs hitters and they caused problems on their own with 12 service aces in a 3-0 (25-18, 25-10, 25-17) win in Panther Activity Center.

Greenwood junior libero Lexi Castillow led the defensive effort with 22 digs, while defensive specialists junior Makenzie Presley and senior Hannah Johnston combined for 17 more digs.

"That's one of the strongest parts of our team, our defense," said Greenwood coach Jennifer Golden. "They get after it."

A fired-up Siloam Springs team opened up an early 4-0 lead in game one, including two kills by junior Shaylon Sharp, but Greenwood settled in and let its defense go to work.

The Lady Bulldogs (16-6, 5-0) caught the Lady Panthers (5-9, 4-2) at 6-6 and then took an 11-9 lead after Siloam Springs was whistled for a net violation.

Sharp had another kill to make it 11-10, but Greenwood went on a 9-0 run to go up 20-10. Siloam Springs scored seven straight to make it 20-17 and forcing a Greenwood timeout, but the Lady Bulldogs responded with a 5-1 run to end game one.

Greenwood easily won game two, but Siloam Springs bounced back in game three and led 14-11 after a Lady Bulldogs hitting error.

Kills from Lilliah Pugh, Carrie Ciesla and Cameryn Presley tied the game and were the start of a 9-1 Greenwood run that put the Lady Bulldogs ahead 20-15 and on their way to the sweep.

Siloam Springs coach Rose Cheek-Willis credited Greenwood's defense and their serving on the night.

"Their libero is great," Cheek-Willis said. "I told them we've got to keep it away from her because she's very good.

"We played well, but we could not serve-receive their floater serves. That's the toughest serve to pass."

Sharp led Siloam Springs with seven kills along with 17 digs.

Chloe Price had four kills, nine assists and one block assist, while Ellie Lampton had three kills and a block assist and Allie Bowman finished with three kills.

Madison Cooper had two kills, one block assist and an ace, while Hadlee Hollenback had one kill and three block assists.

Andrea Lowry had 26 digs, while Kirsten Loftis had 18 digs. Meg Gray finished with eight assists for Siloam Springs.

Greenwood had a very balanced offensive attack with Ciesla leading with 10 kills. Abby Cagle, Presley and Madi Pfeifer each had six kills for the Lady Bulldogs.

Russellville 3, Siloam Springs 1

RUSSELLVILLE -- Siloam Springs saw its four-match winning streak end on Tuesday with a 25-10, 25-19, 15-25, 25-22 loss to Russellville in a 6A/5A-1 Conference match at Cyclone Arena.

The Lady Panthers won game three 25-22 to avoid the sweep, but the Lady Cyclones finished the match with a win in game four.

Shaylon Sharp and Chloe Price each led with 14 kills, while Sharp had 17 digs and Price finished with 18 assists, seven aces and eight digs.

Ellie Lampton had four kills and two aces, while Allie Bowman and Hadlee Hollenback each had three kills.

Madison Cooper had two kills and an ace.

Meg Gray finished with 14 assists and eight digs, while Andrea Lowry led with 26 digs. Kirsten Loftis had 21 digs and Madison Hall finished with six digs.

The Lady Panthers are scheduled to play a nonconference match at Huntsville on Tuesday.

Sports on 09/18/2016