Trailing 2-0 to Harrison on Tuesday, Siloam Springs staged a gutsy rally to force a fifth and deciding set.
The Lady Panthers were two points away from completing their comeback, only to watch Harrison score the final three points of the match and take a 3-2 (25-21, 25-14, 24-26, 23-25, 15-13) victory inside Panther Activity Center.
For a while Tuesday, it looked like Siloam Springs' volleyball team would get run out of its own gym.
After running a 6-2 (two setter) offense the first three matches of the season, the Lady Panthers came out in a 5-1 (one setter) look on Tuesday, but they hadn't had a lot of time to work on it.
"We knew going in we were going to run a 5-1," said head coach Joellen Wright. "We just hadn't had a lot of time to practice it."
The new-look offense took some time to settle in and it showed as Harrison rolled to wins in the first two sets.
Siloam Springs also made some adjustments to its rotations, inserting juniors Micah Curry, Maggie Torres, Clara Butler and Hanna Fullerton into the lineup.
That group of juniors gave the Lady Panthers a spark, especially on defense, as Siloam Springs came back to win game three 26-24. They also won game four 25-23 to force the deciding set.
"They're gutsy in the back row, gave us a little spark on defense," Wright said. "They were just waiting for their opportunity. I've seen some glimpses of that. They are good strategic servers as well. I saw that in JV, aggressive when they need to be aggressive and short when they need to be short. ... The other ones stepped up in the back row. I was really proud of our juniors stepping up and showing me what they can do."
Harrison trailed 2-1 in the fifth set and looked to go down 3-1, but a call reversal made it 2-2 and started a 9-3 Lady Goblins run as Harrison took a 10-5 lead.
Siloam Springs (1-3) came roaring back to take a 13-12 lead, a run that included tip kills from sophomore Dorothy Swearingen, a kill from Jael Harried and an ace from Curry.
Up 13-12, the Lady Panthers served the next ball out of bounds to tie the match. Harrison then took a 14-13 lead on an ace by Ella Kate Reynolds and a four-hit violation on Siloam Springs gave the Lady Goblins (1-2) a victory.
"I think the girls got too comfortable and (Siloam Springs) did a great job adjusting like you said and they came back fired up and ready to play," said Harrison coach April Mattix. "Our girls got too comfortable and we just had to start adjusting. We didn't really hit where we wanted to on the floor. We'd worked on defense. We kept hitting to the spot where they were already at. You know what? They didn't have to move, so we just had to find if there was some scrappy in us. It just came down to the wire. It was a really good game and Siloam's always a great team."
Senior Abby Kelly led Siloam Springs with 15 kills, 16 digs and three aces. Swearingen had six kills, while junior Makenna Thomas had five kills, 11 digs and 28 assists as the lone setter.
Torres had 13 digs and two aces, while Curry had 12 digs and three aces. Blake Vincent led Siloam Springs with 28 digs.
The Lady Panthers were scheduled to return to action on Saturday in the Little Rock Spikefest. Results were not available at presstime.
Siloam Springs is back in action on Monday at Bentonville West.
Sports on 09/08/2019