Rams use heavy hitting to down Lady Cobras

FOUNTAIN LAKE — Plagued by injuries on Fountain Lake’s starting lineup, Lakeside capitalized on empty gaps and inexperience as the Rams’ offense fueled a three-set sweep Tuesday night at Sammy Lambert Court at Irvin J. Bass Gymnasium.

“We knew it would be a struggle, but hopefully we got some good quality play time and then that’ll get us ready,” said Fountain Lake head coach Tina Moore.

“You can’t take away from Fountain Lake,” countered Lakeside head coach Rhonda Thigpen. “They’re No. 2 in their division, and she kept some of her girls out because they were hurt, so hey, I give it to them because they came to do what they had to do to try to stay and win.”

Lakeside senior libero Molly Stineman set the pace early in the first set as the Rams (25-2) earned their first lead behind Stineman’s two-set service. The Lady Cobras (14-3) trailed Lakeside 10-6 before senior Mary Catherine Cowen helped put the Rams to a 16-8 lead.

The Lady Cobras rallied for two more points before Lakeside junior Macy Landry served up five straight, including an ace, for a 21-10 buffer. Junior Siera Peters rallied for Fountain Lake with three straight serves, but the Rams’ lead proved too much to overcome as the hosts fell in the first match, 25-15.

“We struggled,” Moore noted. “We’ve got some injuries [and] tomorrow night’s a big game, so I sat a couple of my hitters. We kind of played with a makeshift squad right there, [but] they did a good job. They’re big hitters on that side.”

With the disadvantage of a short lineup, Moore said that her team’s ability to run an effective defense fell short when faced with Lakeside’s domination at the net.

“Our blocking game wasn’t there; we couldn’t hit big,” she added. “We had a couple of girls in there that don’t normally hit for us, and we struggled with that.”

Back-to-back rallies early in the second set triggered an outburst by the Ram’s frontline, and Lakeside’s Maddie Trusty refused to let up as the junior attacker propeled the Rams’ lead to 11-4 following six straight service points, including an ace.

“I thought we served a good game,” noted Thigpen. “Maddie Trusty is one of the best servers in this state. She is very smart and everybody always looks at her hits, but I’m telling you, she keeps people out of system, and she’s just very good at hitting the gaps.”

Defensive rallies set the tone throughout the course of the second set as both teams stood ground while making big stops on scoring plays. Fountain Lake junior Presley Hamric logged two blocks, and Lakeside junior Adachi Igbokidi crowded the net at middle tallying four solo blocks on the night.

“I thought we had some hitters step up; I thought Adachi, my middle, played well [and] had a great blocking game, but she hit as well as she blocked,” Thigpen said. “Wesley Divers stepped up. Claire Monte had some great blocks. We’ve just got to stay focused going into state … I think we play hard then we drop off.”

Trusty stepped to the backline once again only to be thwarted on the first serve by Fountain Lake’s Landry Cate. Sarah Porter added two more serves for Lakeside en route to the 25-13 rout of the Lady Cobras going into the third and final set.

“I put a whole bunch of defensive players in because all my hitters were hurt, so maybe that made a difference; I don’t know,” Moore said. “Maybe we had to play a little harder.”

Despite the momentum swinging in favor of the Rams, Fountain Lake managed to stay in the game as the hosts rallied to draw several ties throughout the early stages of the third.

Remaining neck-and-neck at 10-10, the Lady Cobras found their footing behind Hamric’s work at the net in securing their first lead change of the night. Fountain Lake snagged a two-point, 12-10, advantage, but the edge was short-lived as Landry sparked a four-point run with a pair of aces among her three straight serves.

A few late rallies saw the Lady Cobras cut the deficit, but two straight three-point runs followed by four straight service points by Trusty left the Rams with 25-17 win.

Lakeside will host the Hot Springs Lady Trojans tonight at Ram Athletic Complex, and Fountain Lake will host Jessieville.