FARMINGTON -- Marshall Ward thought his team was capable of beating defending 5A West champion Harrison this season and the Lady Cardinals looked the part although they couldn't close the deal.
Harrison recorded a come-from-behind (21-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-11) win at Farmington on Sept. 8 with a vocal student section welcoming the visitors to Cardinal Arena. Farmington, the Cinderella team of 2014, qualified for the state volleyball tournament during their first season as a 5A school and missed out on an opportunity to take another step in that direction after going up two games to none in the best of five match.
Game one was tied at 11 and 13 but Farmington had to rally twice to overtake the Golden Goblins. Harrison led 17-14 when Ward called timeout. The Lady Cardinals circled the wagons and Alexis Shelley's kill tied the game at 17-17. Harrison responded with 4-1 run to gain a 21-18 advantage but blew service and Farmington got the side out on a long serve. Callie Harper's ace was followed by Trish O'Connell's kill. Harper then served four straight aces to put the game away, 25-21.
In game two, Farmington jumped out to a 9-2 lead getting two kills apiece from Kaylynn Bates and Shelley plus a pair of aces by Callie Phelan. Three times Harrison narrowed the gap to 5 points but Farmington was up to the task keeping the pressure on. Harrison eventually faltered after getting a side out and Farmington owning a 22-17 lead. The Golden Goblins served long, then were whistled on a 4-hit violation after playing the ball off the net putting Farmington at game point with the score, 24-17. Cateon Burnside recorded a kill for Harrison but the Golden Goblins were caught in a violation by crossing the net and lost game two, 25-21.
Harrison coach April Mattix said she knew Farmington would be improved but was surprised by the early 2-0 Lady Cardinal lead.
"They [Farmington] have done a lot of good things. Being down 2-0, I didn't think that was going to happen," Mattix said. "Last year they were pretty scrappy so I knew he was going to be scrappy."
The Golden Goblins then won three-straight games (25-18, 25-22 and 15-11) to claim the match, three games to two behind a strong performance from 5-11 senior Emily Harp, who got better as the match progressed. By game five she was in a zone and hitting well and Ward thinks she will likely play at a Division I school.
"It would have been real nice to have them an even tougher go," Ward said. "In tonight's match and against Little Rock Christian (a 3-0 Farmington loss the previous week), they were both against a very high-powered offense so our strategy was to try and match it, try to hit hard at them every time and points. Don't play soft, play aggressive."
"Against Little Rock Christian our defense wasn't strong enough to get our offense going. Tonight it was. Both our offense and our defense was amazing."
Ward noted last year Harrison was the undefeated (14-0 in 5A West play) conference champion and praised the Lady Cardinals for what they did accomplish in the match.
"They came out with a lot of fire and played all the way to the end," Ward said. "We were down late in the first set and we came back to beat a very good team. Not all teams will do that. We were playing every single point and when you've got a team that will do that good things will happen."
Farmington dropped to 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the 5A West after taking on the top two teams from 2014 to begin the conference season and Ward doesn't anticipate the rest of the league will hit as well as Harrison and Little Rock Christian. Harrison improved to 3-0 and 2-0 in the 5A West.
Sports on 09/30/2015