Home matches had not been kind to the Siloam Springs volleyball team, but that all changed in dramatic fashion on Tuesday night.
The Lady Panthers rallied from a 2-0 deficit -- including a 14-9 hole in the fifth and deciding set -- to defeat Alma 3-2 (17-25, 21-25, 25-12, 25-22, 16-14) on Dig Pink Night at Panther Activity Center.
Siloam Springs scored the game's final seven points to complete its comeback.
"I'm so proud of our girls for not giving up and for staying focused," said head coach Joellen Wright.
The win was the Lady Panthers' first home win in eight tries, which included a pair of five-set losses to Harrison and Little Rock Christian. The victory also kept Siloam Springs within striking distance in the 5A-West Conference race, while a loss would have been crushing to their potential playoff hopes.
"Definitely had to have it and needed to have it to salvage our mental state really," Wright said. "Think about the flip side of losing at home again and losing at home on Dig Pink night -- just that whole what that could have been like, but they refused to let that happen."
Despite a gutsy rally to send the match to five games, it looked like the Lady Panthers were headed toward another home defeat, especially when Alma went on an 8-0 run in the fifth set to turn a 7-4 deficit into a 12-7 lead.
Four plays later, Alma had match point with a 14-9 lead, setting the stage for Siloam Springs' heroics.
Senior Abby Herring blasted a kill to make it 14-10, and Alma was called for a net violation.
Herring hammered another kill to make it 14-12 and junior setter Makenna Thomas found a hole in the Alma defense to make it 14-13.
Senior Blake Vincent served an ace to tie the score and a combo block from Rachel Conrad and Thomas gave the Lady Panthers' match point.
Alma (4-15-1, 2-7) hit the ball in the net on the next play to give Siloam Springs the victory.
"Anytime you go to five, particularly our team, anything can happen," said Alma coach Kathy Jones. "Even when we were up 14-9 and had the momentum and just didn't finish, that's something that we've kind of struggled with all year is just that consistency, up and down all the time. Definitely continuing to work on improving in those areas."
Conrad led Siloam Springs with 12 kills and four block assists, while Jael Harried had 10 kills and five block assists. Abby Herring added nine kills for the Lady Panthers, while Dorothy Swearingen had six kills, Chelsea McWhorter four kills and Jaedyn Soucie three kills.
Thomas had 36 assists, six block assists and 30 digs. Abby Kelly had 49 digs, while Vincent had 27 digs, Maggie Torres 16 digs, Abby Hornbuckle 13 digs and Swearingen 12 digs.
Siloam Springs led set one 17-15 before Alma finished on a 10-0 run to take a 25-17 victory. The Lady Airedales used another late run to win set two.
Siloam Springs turned the tables in the third set, going on a 12-0 run to take a 16-5 lead before rolling to the 25-12 win. Tied 19-19 in the fourth set, Siloam Springs outscored Alma 6-3 down the stretch to set up the fifth and deciding match.
Aubrey James led Alma (4-15-1, 2-7) with nine kills, while Lillie Warnock had eight kills. Courtney Bates and Bella Nutt each had 17 assists.
Greenwood 3, Siloam Springs 0
The Lady Panthers dropped to 6-13-1 overall and 3-7 in the 5A-West with the 25-17, 25-10, 25-14 loss at Greenwood on Thursday.
Greenwood improved to 20-6 overall and 9-1 in league play in completing the season sweep of the Lady Panthers.
Up next
The Lady Panthers were scheduled to participate in the Conway Wampus Cats Invitational on Saturday. Results were not available at presstime. The Lady Panthers are back in action on Tuesday at home against Vilonia.
Sports on 10/13/2019