Siloam Springs lost its starting setter in the first set of Tuesday's volleyball match against Alma, but thanks to a gutsy performance from junior Annabelle Van Asche, the Lady Panthers didn't miss a beat.
Junior setter Chloe Price went down with a foot injury late in the first set and Van Asche came in immediately and guided the Lady Panthers to a 25-15, 25-20, 29-27 sweep on Teacher Appreciation Night inside Panther Activity Center.
"I couldn't be more proud of them," said head coach Joellen Wright. "Their motto this year is 'One Team, One Family' and when something happens in your family everybody usually pitches in and encourages. 'We're going to make it through it. We're going to do that.' And that is exactly what they did.
"They got (Van Asche) passes. They encouraged her. They communicated. I'm super proud of the poise that Annabelle had to come in under pressure. She played JV (junior varsity) and ended up playing five sets tonight."
Van Asche finished with 18 assists in playing the rest of the first set and all of sets two and three. Price returned to the bench and could have gone back in if the stakes were higher. The injury was a strained tendon on the top of her right foot that she first aggravated on Monday. Price had 10 assists before leaving the match.
"(Head trainer) Brian Nitz suggested we rest her because it was 5A and we could take care of business," Wright said. "She was in some pain, and I could tell before we ever started that she didn't feel awesome because she wasn't her normal goofball self."
Price left the game after Siloam Springs took a 24-14 lead in the first set. The Lady Panthers jumped all over Alma to a 8-0 lead and cruised to the 25-15 win the rest of the way with Reigan Brown recording two kills and two aces.
Alma took a 9-8 lead in the second set, but Siloam Springs rallied to take leads of 15-11 and 18-14. Each time Alma rallied to tie the score. With the game tied 19-19, Brown smashed a kill to take the lead for good and a Van Asche ace gave the Lady Panthers a 2-0 lead.
Looking for the sweep, the Lady Panthers led 16-11 in the third set, but Alma went on a 8-2 run to take a 19-18 lead. The two teams went back and forth with Alma's Bailey Hoffsommer giving the Lady Panthers trouble at the net, and Siloam Springs getting good production off the bench from junior Katie Kendrick, who had a block and kill down the stretch.
After a Hoffsommer kill knotted the score at 27, Brown gave the Lady Panthers a 28-27 lead with a kill and Shaylon Sharp ended the match with an ace.
"They have some good middles, and that block was giving us all kinds of trouble," Wright said of Alma. "And then a little bit when Annabelle went to the front row, blocking's not her specialty necessarily, but it was what we needed to do to keep it in system for us to make everybody be on the same page. That gave us a little bit of trouble. To their credit they didn't give up and it was a good game. It was good situations for us to be in this late in the season."
Hoffsommer finished with seven kills and two blocks for Alma, while Josephine Meinardus had four kills and six blocks and Rae Smith six kills.
"The girls came together as a team and really pressed on from the first two sets and communicated well and celebrated and fought together as a team," said Alma coach Kathy Jones. "They work hard in practice every day. And we are making progress this season and figuring out what works and getting ready for the (5A-West) conference tournament."
Ellie Lampton led Siloam Springs with 10 kills and 10 digs, while Brown had eight kills and four aces. Allie Bowman finished with six kills, two block assists and one solo block and Sharp had four kills, nine digs and three aces. Kendrick had three kills -- all in the third set.
Van Asche and Price combined for 28 assists, while Van Asche had four digs. Kirsten Loftis had six digs, Kailee Thomason five digs, Madison Hall four digs and Kenlie Noel two block assists.
Siloam Springs 3, Russellville 0
RUSSELLVILLE -- The Lady Panthers traveled south on Thursday and captured a 28-26, 25-17, 25-20 sweep over the Cyclones at Cyclone Arena.
Shaylon Sharp had 13 kills, eight digs and two aces, while Ellie Lampton had 11 kills, two block assists and one ace.
Reigan Brown had seven kills, while Allie Bowman had four kills, Kenlie Noel three kills, two block assists and one.
Kailee Thomason finished with 14 digs, while Annabelle Van Asche had 10 digs and 36 assists as Price sat out Thursday's match.
Up next
The Lady Panthers participated in the Conway Tournament on Saturday. Results were not available at presstime. Siloam Springs wraps up regular season play at home on Tuesday against Greenwood for senior night.
Sports on 10/08/2017