Lady Leopards rock court in Trojan matchup

MALVERN — Hot Springs failed to overcome the momentum held by Malvern Monday night at the Bill Hunt Field House. The Lady Leopards earned straight 3-0 match victory over the Trojans.

“I thought we played pretty hard for the first game,” said Malvern head coach Patricia Glover, “I was really impressed with my seniors. I’ve got four seniors on the court and they really had a lot of leadership and did a good job.”

Hot Springs (0-1) showed initiative with a rally in the first set, tying the game 7-7 until senior Kealy Barber answered quickly in utilizing her jump-serve to advance the score to 14-10. The Lady Leopards (1-0) outshone their opponent on the front line resulting in a final score of 25-18 to end the first set.

The Lady Trojans rallied as their opponents’ ability to repeatedly perform a “pass, set, hit” strategy shaped for a fierce back-and-forth matchup. However, they fell behind early in the second set, trailing 13-6 and failing to break Malvern’s momentum. The Lady Leopards took the second set, 25-13.

Due to the prolonged confusion concerning rotation among the Hot Springs players in the third and final set, the sway of momentum resided on Malvern’s side of the court concluding in the 25-13 final score.

Malvern senior Abby Leming dominated the front line with over 15 kills, 6 digs, and 3 aces to end the match. Alongside Leming, Barber was more than capable when it came to assisting and setting up her fellow teammates for the kill.

Barber led the team with at least 15 assists, setting the tone for senior attackers Tiaunica Henderson and Charlie Sealy, who each had 10 kills and three digs. Junior Kym Summerville aced six serves as junior Diamond Ollison was not far behind with three aces and five kills.

“Abby Leming had a really good game, Kealy’s a great setter and Tiaunica as well,” Glover noted of three of her seniors. “For the first game, I was really proud of them. They played with a lot of heart.”

“Overall, I think we played with a lot less intensity,” said Hot Springs coach Deana Franklin. “I think our intensity wasn’t as good as it has been.

“We discussed what’s going to happen when we hit adversity. Are we going to rise or are we going to fall? And I was afraid we were going to fall, but there at the end, I felt like the last eight or 10 points was the team we’ve been seeing.”

Hot Springs senior Jamie Broadway added seven kills, and closed with two assists and one ace. Junior Iona Island added one kill, one assist and one dig. Sophomore Jaylia Reed had nine digs, three assists and two aces.

“One point is not going to break you,” Franklin said. “We really in the past have not been a very good mental team, and we’re working real hard to get over that barrier. It took us kind of getting upset to bring out the animal in us.”

Malvern is scheduled to visit Fountain Lake (3-2) on Thursday. Hot Springs is scheduled for a road match at White Hall.