Lady Cobras glide past Lady Leopards in three straight

MALVERN — Fountain Lake junior outside hitter Emoree Martin led the Lady Cobras to a straightset victory Monday night against Malvern’s varsity squad at Bill Hunt Fieldhouse.

Martin paced the Lady Cobras

(16-5-1, 4-1 3A-South) with 13 kills and added two block assists to end the non-conference rivalry match, 25-14,

25-16, 25-21.

Alongside Martin, freshman setter Sophie Skinner facilitated her team’s attackers as she led with 17 assists. Skinner also tallied one assisted block, one kill and two digs to conclude the night.

“I thought we hung in there, gelled well and played hard,” said Fountain Lake head coach Tina Moore. “We kept hitting and swinging hard, and that made the difference. Our No. 11, Emoree Martin, was our ‘go-to’ girl tonight. She hit all night long. She hit solid and hard, and I think that really kept us fired up throughout the game … Props to Em!”

Sophomore Carena Bledsoe added seven kills for her team, while senior Kaitlyn Bledsoe tallied four.

The Lady Cobras were consistent at the net with a strong blocking game. Kaitlyn Bledsoe made one assisted block, while sophomore Landry Cate added two assisted blocks and one solo.

“I think our girls came out fired up,” added Moore. “We lost to them (Malvern) at the first of the season, but it was our first match of the year, and we were starting a freshman and a couple sophomores, so we were kind of inexperienced.

“As the season has gone on, I think we’ve kind of gelled a little bit more, and we really kind of wanted to come out and get even with them this time. I thought it was a pretty good match for us.”

Sophomore setter Presley Hamric collected four assists, two kills and one service ace.

“We play Lake Hamilton next. We played them in the finals of our tournament Saturday, and they beat us in two sets, so we’re excited to match up with them again,” said Moore. “Hopefully, this energy will carry us over to that, and we will be a little bit more competitive than we were last time.”

“They’re a good team,” said Malvern head coach Patricia Glover. “They’ve improved a lot. I have a couple of kids that are sick and one that was out, but no excuses. They just wanted it worse than we did.

It’s a good rivalry … we always play hard against each other.”

Senior setter Kealy Barber led Malvern (10-6, 7-1 4A-West) with 14 assists. She also made four digs.

Senior outside/middle Abby Leming factored for the Leopards with eight kills, two digs, two aces and one assist. Classmate Tiaunica Henderson added four kills and five digs, while fellow senior Charlie Sealy tallied three kills, four digs and two assisted blocks.

Fountain Lake met

5A-South opponents Hot Springs (7-7, 5-5) and Lake Hamilton (14-4, 7-3) on Tuesday for a tri-match in Pearcy. The Lady Cobras are scheduled for a conference match at home on Thursday against Lisa Academy (1-6, 0-5).

The Lady Leopards are scheduled for a conference match on Thursday at Little Rock McClellan (0-10, 0-8). Malvern was at home again on Tuesday for a conference match with Camden Fairview

(4-10-1, 2-6). “Hopefully, we can get ourselves together and be ready to go,” Glover said.

* Fountain Lake’s junior varsity squad claimed its match in three sets, 20-25, 2522, 15-12.