Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lincoln’s Run Comes Up Short
LINCOLN — The first set was the most competitive of the match as Lincoln hung around for a long time before Gravette (6-4, 6-3) put game one away, 25-22, en route to a Sept. 22 sweep.
Gravette won the volleyball match, 25- 22, 25- 10, 25-13, behind strong performances from senior outside hitter Misa Satchel (20 kills), senior outside hitter Stephanie Pinter (10 kills) and junior setter Hailee Gerner, who consistently set up hits for her teammates.
Second- year Gravette coach Katie Collins noted the Lady Lions had 38 kills as a team and praised the play of Gerner.
“Hailee Gerner is actually new this year,” Collins said. “She is exactly what we needed.”
According to Collins, while Gerner’s sets aren’t always textbook, what she does provide is effective.
“They are always hittable balls” Collins said. “She does a great job for us.”
Lincoln’s best effort was showcased in game one, a set that turned out much closer than the next two games, featuring resilience on the part of the Lady Wolves, who fought from behind the entire set. Gravette built an early 5-0 lead, extending the margin to 9-3 on Brooklyn Lykins’ block- kill, but the pesky Lady Wolves kept finding ways to stay in the game. Lincoln strung together five straight points. Madison Jones came up with a save at the net and played the ball over catching Gravette by surprise. Gravette suffered three hitting errors during Lincoln’s run which brought the score to 9-8.
The Lady Lions again widened the gap, taking a 17-10 lead bolstered by another Lykins’ block- kill sandwiched in between aces by Jaki Chalk and three from Satchel. Lincoln broke the run with Kendra Cummings’ kill off Jada Corbit’s set, then recorded another kill from Jessica Goldman playing outside hitter, keeping the Lady Wolves within 17-12.
Both teams had hitting errors as Gravette pushed the lead to 20-13. Lincoln then got a block-kill from Cummings followed by an ace from Jones to stay within five points, at 20-15. Gravette responded with a 4-2 run to reach game-point.
The Lady Lions looked like they had the game well in hand, but Lincoln put up a fight. A palming violation went against Gravette. Then Lincoln executed their offense with Corbit assisting Goldman’s kill. Another violation and hitting error prompted Collins to call time-out with the score, 24-21.
During the time- out, Collins told the Lady Lions, “All we need is one point,” emphasizing that they battle for every single point. Still, Lincoln got the next point when Gravette was whistled for a 4-hit violation. Gravette was finally able to end Lincoln’s run with Gerner setting for Satchel, who pounded the game-winning kill for a 25-22 Lady Lion victory. The next two sets weren’t nearly as exciting with Gravette winning easily, 25-10 and 25-13 to complete the sweep. Collins said Pinter is working on getting on top of the ball and both her hitting and blocking are contributing.
“She’s blocking very well for us,” Collins said.
Overshadowed in the sweep was the blocking effort of Cummings. Lincoln coach Stephanie Howard praised the valiant determination of the senior, who had at least 10 blocks against a persistent Gravette attack.
“Kendra Cummings had several blocks we couldn’t recover,” Howard said. “She anticipated well, they were just hard hits,” She wasn’t coming down with them. They were going sideways. We weren’t getting to them. At that point you just decide whether you continue to block or do you just back off and try to dig?”
Howard said the defense behind Cummings needs to improve, “We weren’t covering spots, we weren’t digging.”