By Graham Thomas
Staff Writer n [email protected]
Siloam Springs' volleyball team is off to a perfect start in 5A-West Conference play, and the Lady Panthers got the job done Thursday night in front of their favorite teachers.
The Lady Panthers rolled to a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-15, 25-17) of Alma on Teacher Appreciation Night at the Panther Activity Center to improve to 2-0 in league play.
Before the game, each Lady Panther player and manager recognized a teacher in the district that's special to them in an annual event that volleyball teams across the area also participate in.
"There's nothing like Teacher Appreciation Night," said head coach Joellen Wright. "It's already kind of special. The kids get so excited about it. Our teachers are excited about it. So it kind of gets them amped up a little bit."
The Lady Panthers (7-3, 2-0) then went and took care of their business on the court against the Airedales (3-4, 0-2).
Senior Ellie Lampton slammed home 13 kills and senior Chloe Price, who has moved into a hitter/setter role in a two-setter (6-2) offense, had nine kills, 20 assists and seven aces.
The team switched its offensive scheme from a one-setter offense (5-1) in a 3-1 win at Beebe on Tuesday and continued with that on Thursday against Alma.
The change allows Price to play some outside hitter while senior Annabelle Van Asche comes in as the second setter.
"Chloe is a great athlete and she -- for real -- leaps unbelievable and is able to hang up in the air enough to cut or go line or tip or roll shot or whatever," Wright said. "I think she brings some dynamic energy that we don't necessarily always have out there. I think it takes some pressure off of Ellie some, not that Ellie can't deal with pressure. It balances us out a bit."
Van Asche contributed 13 assists.
"Annabelle is talkative, verbal, positive," Wright said. "She's been in that situation before last year when Chloe got hurt and we had to run her in there."
Tied 9-9 in the first set, Siloam Springs went on 7-2 run with two kills from Katie Kendrick and a combo block from Kendrick and Reigan Brown highlighting the run.
Sophomore Makenna Thomas, who had five kills, had a pair of terminations around a Maddy Lasater ace to go up 19-11 as the Lady Panthers eased to a 25-18 win.
Siloam Springs used a Price kill and three straight aces to build an 8-1 lead in the second set, which they stretched to 13-3. Lampton added two kills later in thee set and Price ended the 25-15 win with a kill off opposite sides.
Alma came out fighting in the third set, taking a 16-15 lead
after the Lady Panthers hit one out of bounds.
But just as quickly Siloam Springs got the lead back and finished the game on a 10-1 run, including two more aces from Price and one ace from Jaycie Curry and a kill from Madison Lanker to end the match.
"I think Siloam is one of the best teams we've played this year," said Alma head coach Kathy Jones. "We started the third set and just wanted to come out and compete with them, and I think the girls did a good job of just coming out and playing with them. But Siloam has some unbelievably strong hitters, and even with the adjustments we made on our defense, they managed to hit through our blocks and find holes. I was pleased with our level of how we competed, but Siloam's a great team."
Senior Kelsey Lewis led Siloam Springs defensively with 13 digs, while Lasater added seven digs.
Josephine Meinardus led Alma with seven kills, while London Blackwell and Lillie Warnock each had five kills. Brooklyn Schuttles led Alma defensively with 18 digs, and Courtney Bates had 17 assists.
Siloam Springs 3, Beebe 1
The Siloam Springs volleyball team opened 5A-West Conference play with a 16-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-9 victory at Beebe on Tuesday night.
Ellie Lampton led the Lady Panthers with 18 kills, two solo blocks, two block assists and 13 digs, while Chloe Price had 14 kills, 28 assists and three aces.
Kelsey Lewis added 14 digs, while Annabelle Van Asche contributed 16 assists as the Lady Panthers switched from a one-setter 5-1 offense to a two-setter (6-2) system during the match.
Siloam Springs returns to 5A-West action Thursday at home against Alma.
Up next
The Lady Panthers play at defending state champion Greenwood on Tuesday.
Sports on 09/09/2018