Lady Panthers sweep past Rogers
■ Siloam Springs picked up its second straight win to start the season.
Siloam Springs got a little motivation from the next generation of Lady Panthers on Thursday night.
Leading 2-0 against Rogers — but not having played particularly well — Siloam Springs head coach Joellen Wright called the Lady Panthers into a huddle between games 2 and 3. The team had just had taken pictures with several younger girls who had participated in the volleyball program’s Little Lady Panther camp this summer and were in attendance on Thursday night.
“After game two and the little ones came out, and we were still a little flat, I was like, ‘Girls, these little girls came to see you. You’ve got to pick it up and put on a show for them,” Wright said. “I said, ‘Celebrate everything. Every point, just celebrate it. That kind of helped spur them at the end. They did pick it up with the enthusiasm.”
Siloam Springs went on to play its best set of the match, picking up a 25-12 victory to complete the 3-0 sweep (2515, 25-18, 25-12) of the Lady
Mounties.
The win was the Lady Panthers’ second straight against a Class 6A team to start the season after winning at Bentonville on Monday.
“It’s really exciting to beat both 6A teams,” said senior outside hitter Ellie Lampton, who led Siloam Springs with 13 kills and 12 digs. “Last year we lost to Rogers in five, and I’m happy we came out and won in three this time.”
Siloam Springs led 13-9 in game one when a 4-0 run allowed the Lady Panthers to seize control of the opening set.
Junior Jael Harried started the surge with a kill and senior Kelsey Lewis followed with two straight aces. After Lampton killed a ball, the Lady Panthers had a commanding 17-9 lead on their way to a 25-15 win.
Aided by Rogers mistakes, the Lady Panthers shot out to a 5-1 lead in game two, but Rogers went on a 9-5 run to tie the game at 10.
Leading 13-12, Lampton took over with five kills in an eightpoint span as Siloam Springs went up 21-13. Lewis also had a couple of aces in the second set, while Jaycie Curry and Madison Lanker also had kills.
Looking to put Rogers away, the Lady Panthers went on their most impressive run in the third set.
Leading 11-9, Siloam Springs scored seven straight points to all but ensure the sweep.
Lampton started the run with two straight kills, followed by an ace from Chloe Price and a kill from Reagan Brown. Mackenzie Cook had a kill and Brown and Lampton added kills for an 18-9 lead.
The Lady Panthers pulled ahead 22-12 and finished off the Lady Mounties with a kill from junior Rachel Conrad and two straight aces from Annabelle Van Asche.
Lanker added five kills for the Lady Panthers (20), while Brown had four kills and Price three kills, one block, two aces and 31 assists.
Cook had 10 digs, while Katie Kendrick had two blocks, Conrad one block, Lewis three aces and Van Asche two aces.
Rogers coach Christina Lawrence was impressed with what the Lady Panthers did to her team.
“I mean they have 10 seniors; 85 percent of their lineup is seniors,” Lawrence said. “It’s tough because they’re experienced. They’ve played together for a long time and our girls are still trying to learn. We’re still working on some of those basic things instead of higher level things. Siloam’s running a pretty complex offense. We’re still trying to figure out who’s setting for us you know?”
Anna Randels led Rogers (0-2) with eight kills, while Allie Stephens had six. Cameron Brockhoff and Tori Bayles each had seven assists for the Lady Mounties.
“We’re young,” Lawrence said. “Even our seniors on the court have limited experience. We’re trying to put a lineup together on the court of kids that can play consistent. We’re just trying to work out the kinks right now.”
Siloam Springs returns to action on Tuesday at Harrison. The Lady Goblins won both matches — 3-1 at Harrison and 3-0 in Siloam Springs.
“We’d love to bring a road win home over a tough Harrison team,” Wright said.