Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lady Cardinals Spike Tigers 3-2
FARMINGTON — Oftentimes a cliché is a cliché for a reason, so when one says that whenever the Farmington Cardinals and the Prairie Grove Tigers face-off in any athletic endeavor it is sure to be a heated, closely fought contest, that statement may be a cliché.
However it is usually a dead-on description of most match-ups between the U.S. 62 rivals and Sept. 17 was no different when the Lady Cardinals defeated the Prairie Grove Lady Tigers three games to two in a volleyball showdown held at Farmington.
Despite winning the first set, the Cardinals found themselves behind the eightball after dropping the next two contests to the Tigers. Farmington rebounded to win the final two sets to claim the victory.
“I hate being down two to one, but it was nice to be able to come back,” said Cardinals’ coach Marshall Ward. “We eventually realized it’s our home and our court and that we need to take the victory.”
Farmington looked poised to defend their home court in the first set, taking the opener 25-18. In that stanza, Oakley Sisemore tallied a pair of aces and a kill, while Janna Doss, Lindsey Blackburn, Sherra Irvin, Maria McPherson and Lauren Blackburn all notched two kills each. McPherson’s second kill late in the contest brought the Cardinals to game point, at 24-17, and then Lauren Blackburn’s final strike of the opening set finished off the Tigers 25-18.
In the second set Lauren Blackburn continued to tally kills at the net, adding three to her game total, however Prairie Grove’s Marie Gregson kept pace with three kills of her own. Gregson’s offense was complemented by Jaelyn Kilburn and Kelsey Webb, who each notched a pair of kills each in the second set. Leading by only one point, 24-23, Webb propelled Prairie Grove past Farmington with a kill to close the contest.
With the score tied 9-9 in the third set, the Tigers staged a 10-2 run, which helped Prairie Grove cruise to the game three win, 25-17, while also pulling ahead of the Cardinals two games to one. Gregson and Webb each had two kills in the third set, as did Farmington’s Sisemore and Lauren Blackburn.
Lindsey Blackburn sparkled in the fourth set with three kills, helping Farmington win the set 25-11, and which also allowed the Cardinals to tie the match at two games to two, sending the dog fight into a winner takes all, first to 15 points, fifth set.
Farmington never trailed in the final contest, leading by as much as four points early in the set. Prairie Grove did tie the contest at 11-all following a Cassidy Dryer kill. Farmington then closed out the match with a 4-1 run, punctuated by a Sisemore kill which made the final score 15-12 and allowed the Cardinals to hang on for the three games to two victory.
“I’m proud of the way we played today,” said Tigers’ coach Hannah McDonald. “We’ve been dealing with injuries this week, so to be able to come out here and compete like we did is all I can really ask of them.”