PRAIRIE GROVE -- The Lady Tigers did not look sharp in an Oct. 3 (25-13, 25-18, 25-15) sweep of Lincoln (2-9), then lost the following night (23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 22-25) at West Fork (11-4, 10-2) in volleyball action.
The loss to West Fork put Prairie Grove as the fifth seed going into the 4A-1 district volleyball tournament, which began at Pea Ridge Monday. The first-round featured another meeting of Washington County schools both named Tigers with No. 4 West Fork versus No. 5 Prairie Grove. The nine-team tournament opened with No. 9 Lincoln taking on No. 8 Gentry followed by No. 2 Berryville against No. 7 Gravette. Conference champion and No. 1 Shiloh Christian awaited the Lincoln/Gentry winner and No. 3 Huntsville competed with tourney host, No. 6 Pea Ridge.
Following the outcome of Monday's matches, Tuesday featured the Prairie Grove/West Fork winner versus the Shiloh/Lincoln/Gentry winner in one semifinal and the Huntsville/Pea Ridge winner versus the Berryville/Gravette winner in the other semifinal. Wednesday's matches are the consolation at 5 p.m. followed by the championship at 6:30 p.m.
Prairie Grove entered the tournament 14-6 overall and 10-4 in 1A/4A District 1 play. Game one was their best set against Lincoln. A pair of kills by Riley Gerwig helped the Lady Tigers jump in front, 8-2. Lincoln closed to within 9-5 aided by Lady Tiger hitting errors and Jad Corbit's kill, the result of pushing the ball back over on the first hit and surprising Prairie Grove. The Lady Tigers then opened up a 16-6 lead using their offense to set up points. Madison Beaver's ace and Gerwig's kill concluded the 7-1 run. After Ashlynn Smith's ace extended the margin to 23-9; two Lady Tiger service errors coupled with hitting errors allowed Lincoln to stay in the game, but the Lady Wolves lost on a service error of their own. Prairie Grove took the first set, 25-13.
Prairie Grove once more started strong in the second set. Kara Anderson had consecutive aces and set for Gerwig's kill as the Lady Tigers scored the first 4 points. Gerwig added an ace and Cadi Williamson a kill pushing the lead to 10-2, but the Lady Tigers failed to put the Lady Wolves away. Lincoln went on a 9-4 run spurred by Madison Jones' ace, Kendra Cummings' kill and Jessica Goldman's block-kill cutting the lead to 14-11. Prairie Grove responded by setting up Gerwig, who pounded a trio of kills to give Prairie Grove some breathing room with a 19-12 advantage. The teams traded points the rest of the way with Prairie Grove winning, 25-18, on back-to-back kills by Gerwig.
The third set mirrored the first two, with the Lady Tigers getting ahead, 7-3. Kara Anderson started the surge with a kill, followed by two aces. Williamson's ace gave Prairie Grove a 15-5 lead, but Lincoln fought back. Emily Dayberry pushed the ball to the back row recording a kill and Jones came up with a block-kill for Lincoln as the Lady Wolves trimmed the margin to 15-10. When the lead was reduced to 16-12, Prairie Grove asserted their offense, pounding kills and opening up a 21-14 lead on Gerwig's ace. The Lady Tigers reached match-point at 24-14 on Williamson's block-kill, and, after a miscue, prevailed, 25-15, when Williamson spiked a finishing kill from the outside hitter position.
Following the loss to West Fork, Prairie Grove rebounded with wins over Gentry (25-10, 25-13, 25-10), Charleston (25-8, 25-7), defending State 3A champion Paris (25-5, 29-27), Huntsville (26-24, 25-18, 25-17) and Decatur (25-9, 25-9, 25-14).
Sports on 10/19/2016