Waldron Gets Past Farmington

FARMINGTON — All four Northwest teams, including Farmington, were eliminated in the opening two rounds of State 4A volleyball tournament play at Mena last week.

Farmington, seeded third out of the Northwest, lost, 25-18, 24-26, 23-25, 21-25, to West second seed Waldron in the first-round of the state 4A volleyball tournament held at Mena.

The Lady Cardinals nearly secured a two-game edge but were upended, 26-24, in the second set. Games three and four were close with Waldron winning, 25-23 and 25-21, to take a three games to one victory and advance.

“They ended up on top at the end of too many sets. Overall, they only scored one more point that us if you add it up throughout the match,” said Farmington coach Marshall Ward. “They scored 94 and we scored 93 points total. It was a good fight.”

The Lady Cardinal offense was hampered by the absence of senior outside hitter Oakley Sisemore, who suffered injuries in an automobile accident over the weekend prior to the state tournament.

“Oakley did go, she was on our bench. She wasn’t going to be able to play but I wanted her dressed out and all the team wanted her dressed out because she’s a part of the team,” Ward said. “She couldn’t warm up and surely couldn’t play but she was on the bench with us.”

Sisemore’s parents, who have been among the staunchest supporters of Cardinal athletics, brought Oakley in a car because as Ward explained she was more comfortable riding there.

The drawback was not having the go-to-girl on the court. Oakley tallied 186 kills on the season, 1.5 times as many as the next Lady Cardinal.

“We were only able to practice one time without her. Of course, that hurts,” Ward said. “She was consistently our go-to hitter.”

Ward is optimistic about Oakley’s recovery.

“She’s going to have an excellent softball career. I don’t think this car accident is going to affect that. The most important thing first and foremost is that she is alive,” Ward said. “She was still able to come on the trip. Some of the other girls from the accident were still in the hospital.”

Ward came away from the season feeling the emotion of letting go.

“It’s a terrible feeling to think that they’re no longer my kids and I’m no longer their coach as far as that goes. It’s no fun to have to say goodbye.”

On the positive side, Ward was pleased with the competitive effort at state.

“As far as I know that’s as close as we’ve [Farmington] come to ever winning a match at state,” Ward said, pledging to continue to work towards the goal.