FARMINGTON -- Entering the State 5A tournament this week, the Lady Cardinal volleyball team wanted to recapture the momentum they enjoyed after handing Alma a defeat (17-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-19) at home Oct. 6.
Farmington came into Tuesday's first-round match as the No. 4 seed from the 5A West paired against No. 1 East seed and tournament host, Valley View. The winner of that match advance to Wednesday's quarterfinal against the winner of South No. 2 Magnolia vs. Central No. 3 Beebe to be played at 6 p.m. The semifinal on the lower side of the state tourney bracket are scheduled for Thursday at 3 p.m. with the 2016 State 5A volleyball championship match set for Saturday at 1 p.m. at Hot Springs. After defeating Alma, the Lady Cardinals beat 7A Rogers Heritage and 6A Russellville, along with 3A power Paris. Farmington coach Marshall Ward said the streak began with the Alma game.
"Alma has big blockers and big hitters and we did start to go around them," Ward said. "After several short tips, it opened up our hits and they were on their heels. The girls really mixed it up well."
The manner in which Alma began the Oct. 6 match appeared as if the Airedales were deliberately trying to provoke hostilities. While they may have succeeded in throwing Farmington off their game in the first set, they soon got their mouths mashed. Alma apparently didn't want the Lady Cardinals or their coaches communicating the fact that the Airedales were capable of committing hitting errors or service errors. Bouncing around in classifications can do funny things to a team's self-perception. Alma returned to the 5A West this year after two years in 6A, while Farmington was a 4A school until three years ago. Playing on their home court, the Airedales swept Farmington, 25-21, 29-27, 25-15, Sept. 13; but two of the three sets went down to the wire. Competing at Cardinal Arena, Alma quickly found out they couldn't steamroll the Lady Cardinals. In fact, the opposite was about to happen.
Airedales' coach Tiffaney Drinkwitz was able to disrupt game flow and Farmington lost the first set, 25-17. Alma fell behind, 4-2, in the second set and tried the same tactic, this time with a player running her mouth. The ploy may have backfired on the Airedales, who suffered two hitting errors and had a kill nullified by stepping across the line. Farmington senior Kaylynn Bates admitted afterwards the Airedales made her and her teammates mad, but said they concentrated on turning that anger into productive energy on the court.
"We just took all of our anger we had built up and came together as a team," Bates said. "We all worked really hard for that win."
Farmington led 7-2 and the Lady Cardinals hadn't hit their peak yet. The Lady Cardinals had three straight blocks. Two went out-of-bounds, but the blocks made Alma think. Claudia Oxford pounded a kill with an assist by Callie Harper pushing Farmington to a 20-14 advantage. Harper's over-the-shoulder push landed as the teams traded points and Farmington continuing to lead, at 22-16. At one point, Alma's setter was either temporarily shaken or feigning an injury. Play was halted and she limped off, but soon returned without any visible effect. Anna Dutton pounded home a kill off a Harper set and the Lady Cardinals reached game-point, at 24-17, on a violation. Two calls went against Farmington and two hitting errors helped Alma pull within, 24-21. The Lady Airedales then suffered the treachery of a long trajectory on their serve which went long and Farmington won, 25-21, to even the match at 1-1.
In the third set, Alma cut an 18-9 Farmington lead to 20-14 when Ward took time-out.
"That's a very good team, they've been in 6A, they're an excellent team," Ward said. "They're bigger than us, but who isn't? They had some really good kills, no question; but that's still worth only one point and we've got to go on and get the next point."
Farmington twice worked their offense with Camryn Journagan (dig) and Harper (set) setting up Dutton (kill), followed by Bates (dig) passing to Harper (set), who returned the ball for a Bates kill and a 22-14 lead. Dutton added another kill and the trio of Bates (dig), Harper (set) and Ella Wilson (kill) brought the Lady Cardinals to game-point, at 24-17. Alma got a point, but Farmington's Kailey Larkins reached out and extended her arm to get a ball Alma thought she would miss. The kill dropped giving Farmington a 25-18 win and 2-1 lead in the match. The fourth set featured eight ties, the last at 14-14, before Farmington put the match away with an 11-5 run. Brandy Wallace served an ace to end the match with the Lady Cardinals winning the fourth set, 25-19.
Oxford said Alma is a quality opponent, calling Abbye Ostrander a great setter.
"Fighting through it was what kept us together," Oxford said. "Fighting through whatever was said and all that. They're a well-coached team. It all comes down to who plays volleyball."
Farmington qualified for the state tournament by defeating Greenbrier, 16-25, 25-17, 29-31, 25-17, 15-7, at the 5A West tournament. The Lady Cardinals were matched up against league champion Harrison and lost in the semifinals, 26-24, 17-25, 21-25, 24-26. As a result of that loss, they entered the State 5A volleyball tournament as a No. 4 seed.
Sports on 10/26/2016