Lady Cobras win, take No. 3 seed in state
FOUNTAIN LAKE — After falling behind by two sets to Ashdown, Fountain Lake won three straight sets in the 4A-West consolation volleyball match Thursday night at Bass Gymnasium.
A five-set victory gave Fountain Lake (272) a first-round matchup against Brookland or Jonesboro Westside at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Lyon College in Batesville. A victory would send the Lady Cobras to the quarterfinals at
4 p.m. Wednesday.
Fountain Lake bounced back after a fourgame semifinal loss to Mena Tuesday night. The Bearcats played Booneville for the district championship later Thursday, the winner receiving a top seed and playing at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Batesville Southside High.
“You put them on a scale of 1-10 athletically, they’re over the top,” said Fountain Lake head coach Tina Moore. “I knew they could challenge anybody, and when they’re on, they’re on. We had to earn every point tonight. They did not give us much. They ran every ball down, and it was just a battle. That’s their athleticism, by far superior to a lot of teams.”
Lyndsey Blees and Olivia Cox’s serving made the difference in the fifth game, 15-7.
“That was from one end of the spectrum to the other as far as playability goes,” Moore said. “The first two games (Ashdown winning
25-22, 25-21), we tanked it. It was so bad. We just could not find any rhythm whatsoever. We couldn’t swing at the ball or do anything.
“The third set, I totally changed up my rotation from a 5-1 running my primary setter to two backup setters running a 6-2,” she said. “Our sets were on point, and we started swinging on balls, and that’s the difference right there.”
Eleven straight points on Blees’ service gave Fountain Lake a 21-8 lead in the third game before Kaitlyn Bledsoe sealed the 2514 win. Molly Breshears served six straight winners in the fourth game, 25-15.
“I thought my girls came out real strong,” said Ashdown head coach Anna Tillery, her team now 22-8. “We’ve played Fountain Lake two other times in season, haven’t beat them yet. (We) took off a set off them in the first time against them. That was the first time we’ve gone to five with them. They’re a very strong team.
“I’m very proud of my girls. They work hard; they bust their butts. We even had an opportunity to get a freshman in there, and I thought she stepped up and did a really good job there. We just couldn’t finish. We started out strong; we just needed one more good set in us. We just fell apart a little bit.”
Cox (28 kills and 18 digs) and Blees (24 assists, 19 digs and 30 service points) each tallied double-doubles to lead the Lady Cobras. Graves had 20 service points with 22 digs and Breshears posted 24 digs to lead the team defensively. Bledsoe had a team-high five blocks.
Cambre McCullogh led Ashdown defensively with 40 digs, Kenya Wilson adding 31. Zakiyah Rhone tallied a double-double with 20 digs and 18 assists.
“(McCullough) keeps us in so many points,” Tillery said. “That’s what I told the girls. The first two sets, she frustrated those hitters over there because Fountain Lake’s got some strong hard hitters, and she kept digging them up and wouldn’t let that ball hit the ground. She did phenomenal for us tonight.”
* Lakeside, the 5A-South champion, faces the No. 4 seed from 5A-West in the state tournament at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Harrison. The winner plays in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Hot Springs, seeded fourth in 5A-South, faces the 5A-West champion at 6 p.m. Tuesday, the winner playing again at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
* South Region runner-up Jessieville plays at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the Class 3A tournament at Hoxie (Lawrence County). Cutter Morning Star, seeded fourth from the South, faces North No. 3 seed Alpena at 6 p.m. Monday, the winner to face West champion Paris at 6 p.m. Tuesday.