Lady Panthers sweep Russellville, earn No. 3 seed

n The Class 6A State Tournament starts Tuesday in Greenwood.

Bud Sullins/Special to Siloam Sunday Siloam Springs senior Allie Bowman, left, goes up for a hit over Russellville's block on Thursday at the Panther Activity Center.
Bud Sullins/Special to Siloam Sunday Siloam Springs senior Allie Bowman, left, goes up for a hit over Russellville's block on Thursday at the Panther Activity Center.

Siloam Springs' volleyball team now has its road in this week's Class 6A State Tournament.

The Lady Panthers swept Russellville for the third time this season, 25-16, 31-29, 25-15, on Thursday night in the third-place match of the 6A-West Conference Tournament inside Panther Activity Center.

With the win, the Lady Panthers will be the West No. 3 seed and play at 8 p.m. Tuesday against East No. 6 West Memphis in the opening round of the Class 6A State Tournament, which will be held Tuesday through Thursday in Greenwood.

The win Thursday against Russellville comes after a disappointing 3-1 loss at Benton on Tuesday in the conference tournament semifinals.

First-year head coach Joellen Wright said the coaches had a heart-to-heart with the Lady Panthers at practice on Wednesday afternoon prior to Thursday's third-place match.

"We had some honest -- honest, now -- conversations yesterday as a team about why we let people in when we have a lead and why we fear -- because you can see it," Wright said. "When you start breaking down, you see fear in their faces. We had some good conversations. Some kids were like, 'I'm afraid getting taken out.' 'Afraid of losing my spot.' We redirected that into, if you get taken out it's not about you. It's about the team."

The heart-to-heart seemed to help the Lady Panthers (15-15), at least initially on Thursday as they easily won the opening set 25-16.

Siloam Springs took an 11-7 lead in the second set, but Russellville stormed back to take a 23-18 lead and just two points away from evening the match 1-1.

Shaylon Sharp killed a ball to make it 23-19, and Kailee Thomason served two straight aces to bring Siloam Springs within 23-21. Sharp killed another to make it 23-22, but Russellville answered with a kill to go up 24-22. Siloam Springs was able to tie the match 24-24 and both teams traded points well beyond the normal match length.

With the set tied at 29, Ellie Lampton killed a ball for a 30-29 and Russellville was penalized for a four hits violation as the Lady Panthers escaped the second set with a 31-29 win.

Siloam Springs was in complete control in the third set and finished off the match rather easily.

Lampton led the Lady Panthers with 15 kills, nine digs, two aces and two block assists. Sharp had 12 kills, six digs, three aces and two solo blocks. Allie Bowman finished with four kills, while Reigan Brown had three kills and Chloe Price two kills, two aces, two block assists, 17 digs and 36 assists.

Thomason had three aces and seven digs, while Madison Hall had two aces and 10 digs. Katie Kendrick had four block assists, while Kirsten Loftis had six digs.

Hannah Jones led Russellville (10-17) with seven kills, while Olivia Alford had five kills and Kate Lane 19 digs. The Lady Cyclones will be the No. 4 seed out of the West and play in the opening game of the state tournament at 2 p.m. Tuesday against Searcy.

"Finishing is probably one of our toughest things to do," said first-year coach Ashley Jackson, who is back on the Russellville bench after missing the first part of the season on maternity leave. "That was an accomplishment to rally with a team like Siloam and bounce back after Tuesday. Again just getting over that slump is what we're dealing with this season. We're working through it."

The Lady Panthers, meanwhile, are hoping for an extended stay in the state tournament after being eliminated in the quarterfinals six years in a row. The winner of Tuesday's first-round game will play East No. 2 Marion, which received a first-round bye and has eliminated the Lady Panthers in 2012, 2014 and 2015.

"I would say we can't lose focus in the first round. We've got to take care of business and absorb that state atmosphere of 'this is state, let's have fun,'" Wright said. "Marion got a bye. So Wednesday, if we take care of business in the first round, we'll see Marion, and that has been a showstopper for us the last two, three years."

Wright said the Lady Panthers are well aware of their road block in the quarterfinals in recent years.

"They know," Wright said. "That came up in our little team conversation. Shaylon's actually the one that brought it up."

Benton 3, Siloam Springs 1

BENTON -- Benton rallied from a 1-0 deficit to win the battle of Lady Panthers against Siloam Springs 22-25, 25-19, 25-22, 26-24 in a 6A-West Conference winner's semifinal match on Tuesday night.

Shaylon Sharp led Siloam Springs (14-15) with 20 kills, 18 digs and six aces. Ellie Lampton had 16 kills, 10 digs, 1 solo block and one block assist.

Allie Bowman had eight kills and two aces, while Chloe Price had 40 assists, five kills, 14 digs, two solo blocks and one block assist.

Kirsten Loftis had seven digs, while Kenlie Noel and Reigan Brown each had one block assist.

Benton will now play Greenwood for the 6A-West Conference title, while Siloam Springs hosts Russellville on Thursday in the third place game, which will determine seeding for next week's Class 6A State Tournament at Greenwood.

Sports on 10/22/2017