Seniors take Lady Cobras to program peak
FOUNTAIN LAKE — In 21 years as Fountain Lake’s volleyball coach, Tina Moore has never had a squad win 24 straight matches, much less go 25-1.
“I’ve never gone (undefeated) this long,” she said.
Nor has Moore won a state championship, the long-range goal for her most successful squad. Fountain Lake hosts the 4A-West district tournament today through Thursday at Bass Gymnasium, hoping to reach the state final Oct. 28 at Bank of the Ozarks Arena.
Fountain Lake has won all but three of its best-of-five matches in straight sets with Ashdown, Bryant and Lake Hamilton claiming one each. Greene County Tech, a 5A-East squad from volleyball-rich northeast Arkansas, defeated the Lady Cobras during the Paris Invitational Oct. 7.
“I think as long as we approach it one game at a time and know what our competition is, they’re ready for the challenge of somebody taking us to five sets and playing us to our max,” Moore said.
Five of the six Lady Cobra seniors have played together since seventh grade: Elizabeth Bairett, Lyndsey Blees, Molly Breshears, Olivia Cox and Nikea Nero.
“All five of them, at some point and time … (have played) outside of the high school season. They’ve kept their volleyball going outside of the school as well,” Moore said.
Since junior high, Moore has told them that if they “really focused and stayed with it and kept it together … they would be that team.”
Said Moore: “The advice I gave them (was) if they were not selfish and they learned to play together and embrace each other’s talents, they could go as far as they wanted to go. I saw this vision happening; they just had to believe it. They’ve always been not quite so cohesive, but this year, I think they’ve really bought into … ‘we’re a team. We can do this if we stick together and draw from each others’ strengths.’ It’s made us the team we are.”
Getting help from lower grades, junior starters Emily Burke and Kaitlyn Bledsoe line up in the middle while sophomore libero Erin Graves controls the defensive side.
“We are trying to incorporate more of our middles,” Moore said. “The first of the season, we mostly went to our seniors because they are comfortable with each other and they feel confident with them. I think my setter now is feeling more confident with her middles, so we can run some more middle hits. We’re getting more confident going to those younger girls, and that’s helped our game a lot
because now we can spread the game out a lot more.”
Graves impressed Moore during the club season and earned the starting libero position.
“Erin stepped in, and she had a really great club season,” Moore said. “I wasn’t sure if she’d be quick enough because the pace of the game is so much faster from junior high to senior high. She’s stepped into it pretty well, and I think she’s done a great job keeping us in the game.”
Blees, right side hitter and backup setter, started playing volleyball at Boys and Girls Club of Hot Springs in second grade before moving to Fountain Lake.
“She’s been in my gym since the fourth or fifth grade,” Moore said. “She used to be my little manager. She’d shag balls for us because she aspired to be this big volleyball player.”
Blees acknowledges that senior leadership is instrumental to the team’s success.
“I think it takes a lot of senior leadership, and in the past, we’ve had that (but) it hasn’t been near as strong,” she said. “We’re driven to win this year. This is our last year, and we want the team to go as far as we can. We think we have the potential to go as far as we can because everybody gives it their all this year.”
Bairett, who started playing in the seventh grade, agrees that player attitudes have improved.
“I feel like we like each other more this year,” she said. “We’re bonding more. You can’t play for yourself.”
Previously more of a utility player, Bairett took on a new role this season as setter.
“She’s kind of played a lot of positions, but she’s never been the setter that runs the floor,” Moore said. “Your setter (takes) charge of the floor. They’re the ones who run every play. This is an absolutely brand new role for her senior year, and I think she’s embraced it very well.”
Each year, the seniors choose a theme to focus the season. This year’s seniors honor Fountain Lake Police Department, recognizing a fallen officer from around the state at each home game.
“We try to develop some kind of sense of community, ” Moore said. “This year, we’re highlighting fallen officers in our state, so at every home game, we have a collection. We’re donating to the Fallen Officer Foundation at the end of our season. I try to give our kids some sense of community service and giving back to the community and taking pride in something.”
As part of the team’s theme, the motto “I’ve got your six” has taken on a new meaning for the athletes.
“I think part of the reason the seniors picked FLPD is because you always have your partner,” Blees said. “A police department resembles family, so we want our team to definitely resemble family. If you aren’t a family, you can’t go anywhere; you’re just going to lose in the end.”
The Lady Cobras play Bauxite for a third time at 6:30 p.m. today. Barring a season-ending defeat, a victory sends Fountain Lake against today’s Arkadelphia-Mena winner at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.