Shorthanded SSHS falls to Springdale
An undermanned Siloam Springs volleyball team suffered its fifth straight loss to begin the 2020 season Tuesday as Springdale swept the Lady Panthers 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-21) inside Panther Activity Center.
Siloam Springs had four players out with illness and another four were being held out because of covid-19 restrictions.
Those absences forced the Lady Panthers to tweak their rotations against Springdale, and Siloam Springs could never get enough offense going against the Lady Bulldogs.
The Lady Panthers gave a strong effort despite the loss, according to coach Joellen Wright.
“You’ve got to give it to them,” she said. “They stepped up and filled the places. The ones on the court that were in there were encouraging to them. I never felt like they were intimidated. I felt like the older ones were trying to lead them. We just had some inexperience with some hitting connections.”
Siloam Springs (0-5) wound up with 21 hitting errors and seven service errors, which combined for more than a game’s worth of points.
“It’s something we’re battling,” Wright said. “It’s good choices. It’s timing. It’s fundamentals.”
Because the Lady Panthers played five matches in a nine-day stretch, there hasn’t been much practice time in between. Wright said Siloam Springs would benefit from extra work in practice on Wednesday and the rest of the week.
Amaya Johnson had nine kills to lead the Lady Bulldogs to their first win of the season.
Maddie Downing had 14 assists, while Dishita Gandhi had 17 digs for Springdale (1-1).
“I felt like we did a really good job playing more as a unit tonight,” said Springdale coach Meagan Hobbs, whose team dropped its season opener to Fort Smith Northside a week earlier. “We really had to do some reflecting after Northside, but I thought we played pretty consistent, which is what our goal was, to be consistent from start to finish and to not let them go on any big runs.”
Clara Butler led Siloam Springs (0-5) with nine kills, while Cailee Johnson had seven kills. Hannah Fullerton had 22 digs, Micah Curry 19 digs and Makenna Thomas four kills and 14 assists. Jaedyn Soucie added three kills and two aces for Siloam Springs, while Anna Wleklinski had eight assists and one ace. Maggie Torres also had one ace.
Harrison 3, Siloam Springs 1
The Lady Goblins defeated the Lady Panthers 25-23, 25-12, 23-25, 25-18 on Monday night at Goblin Arena in Harrison.
Makenna Thomas led the Lady Panthers with 11 kills, four aces and seven assists.
Clara Butler had eight kills and two aces, while Sophia Lange had four kills.
Anna Wleklinski had 16 assists, while Maggie Torres had 12 digs and Cailee Johnson 10 digs.