Lady Panthers bounce back, top Vilonia

n The Eagles won the first set, but SSHS rallied for a 3-1 win.

Bud Sullins/Special to Siloam Sunday Siloam Springs senior Katie Kendrick hits over Vilonia's Lainey Wilson during Thursday's match at Panther Activity Center.
Bud Sullins/Special to Siloam Sunday Siloam Springs senior Katie Kendrick hits over Vilonia's Lainey Wilson during Thursday's match at Panther Activity Center.

By Graham Thomas

Staff Writer n [email protected]

Siloam Springs rebounded from a rough start Thursday night to come back and beat Vilonia in a 5A-West Conference volleyball match.

The Lady Panthers dropped the first set 27-25 before coming back and taking the next three with little trouble 25-13, 25-18, 25-11 at Panther Activity Center.

Head coach Joellen Wright hinted that there might have been a little carryover of last Tuesday's disappointing 3-0 loss at Greenwood during the first game in which Vilonia scored more than half of its points on Siloam Springs mistakes.

"After the first game I was upset with how their lack of focus," Wright said. "So I encouraged them to be the best they can be and pick it up and get it done. Let's go. This is not who you are. I was proud of them because they responded."

With the second set tied 12-12, Siloam Springs got hot and finished on a 13-1 to take the second set 25-13.

Sophomore Makenna Thomas and senior Reigan Brown had kills to start the run, and Chloe Price and Ellie Lampton had six kills combined on the back end as the Lady Panthers tied the match 1-1.

Siloam Springs (8-4, 3-1) jumped out to an 8-4 lead in game three, but Vilonia tightened things up and pulled within 14-13 midway through.

The Lady Eagles had a service error on the next play, however, and Thomas and Brown followed up with back to back kills with Lampton scoring an ace for an 18-3 lead.

Maddy Lasater had an ace to give Siloam Springs a 22-14 advantage and a Price kill set up game point for Siloam Springs. Senior Jaycie Curry's kill ended the third set at 25-18 and gave the Lady Panthers a 2-1 lead.

Siloam Springs was off and running in game four as Price and Lampton had early kills and Price then served three straight aces for an 8-1 lead.

Kills from Lampton, Katie Kendrick, Brown and Thomas made it 13-5. Price and Jael Harried added two more kills for a 15-7 lead.

Kendrick and Lampton had one more kill each sandwiched around a Kelsey Lewis ace, and Rachel Conrad had three big blocks down the stretch as the Lady Panthers set up match point.

A kill from Abby Kelly on the outside gave the Lady Panthers the match victory.

Price scored a triple double for Siloam Springs with 17 kills, 17 assists, 11 digs and five aces, while Lampton had 16 kills and 13 digs.

Thomas, who played the final three games as the second setter and hitter in the 6-2 offense, had seven kills, 21 assists and six digs.

"Makenna Thomas is young, but she added some versatility, gave us good hittable balls that were difference makers," Wright said. "She hit the ball well on the outside too."

Lasater led the Lady Panthers with 20 digs, while Lewis had 19 digs and Mackenzie Cook nine digs. Conrad and Kendrick each played a role in three blocks, while Kendrick and Brown each had five kills.

Vilonia was led by outside hitter Emily Farmer who had 10 kills and gave the Lady Panthers' defense fits at times.

"We struggled to block her," Wright said. "We weren't reading her very well."

Greenwood 3, Siloam Springs 0

Greenwood junior Camryn Presley put up eight kills, 11 digs and a block to lead the Lady Bulldogs to a 25-16, 25-20, 25-15 win over the Lady Panthers.

Zoie Benton added a match-high 10 kills and Izzy Davis added 11 digs and two aces for Greenwood (9-4, 3-0 5A-West).

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 3-0 in 5A-West Conference play with a 25-16, 25-20, 25-15 win over the Lady Panthers.

Ellie Lampton led Siloam Springs with eight kills, while Reigan Brown added seven kills. Chloe Price added six kills, 16 assists, 14 digs and two aces.

Madison Lanker had four kills, and Kelsey Lewis served two aces to go with 13 digs.

Up next

The Lady Panthers return to action Tuesday at Little Rock Christian for a 5A-West Conference match and then return to the road on Thursday at Greenbrier.

Sports on 09/16/2018