PRAIRIE GROVE --First-year Lady Tiger volleyball coach Mat Stewart can take a breath, the skid is over.
September began with a seven-set skid for Lady Tiger volleyball and threatened to reach losses in eight straight games before Prairie Grove awakened to the sound of rumble strips signaling danger ahead. The Lady Tigers rallied from a 2-0 match deficit and overcame a 9-5 West Fork lead in the fifth and final set Thursday to claim their first victory of the month (23-25, 16-15, 25-18, 25-23, 15-13) at home.
Prairie Grove hadn't won a match since sweeping Elkins (25-13, 25-10, 25-19) Aug. 30; and hadn't won a set since taking game-two 25-17 during a 3-1 loss to Gravette (23-25, 25-21, 17-25, 17-25) Sept. 1. Shiloh Christian (6-6, 3-0) recorded a three-set sweep (25-11, 25-16, 25-15) of Prairie Grove Sept. 6.
Thursday's match spelled more trouble for Prairie Grove. After building a 10-5 lead in game-one on Chrysten Wetzel's ace, momentum swung in West Fork's favor. West Fork turned the game around with an 18-4 run. Keyed by consecutive aces from 5-feet-11 senior Holly Griffin, the visitors led 23-14. Prairie Grove fought to stay alive, trimming the lead to 23-17 on Riley Gerwig's ace, but Sara Blackard's kill brought West Fork to game-point at 24-17. Prairie Grove then reeled off six straight points with Alisan Alexander twice serving aces, but their bid to tie the game ended on a violation and West Fork took the first set, 25-23.
The second set was tied eight times, the last at 12-12 on Kara Anderson's ace, but Prairie Grove faded after a controversial ruling went against them. Gerwig pounded a hit that appeared to go out-of-bounds off a West Fork tip that would have tied the game at 13-all, but the ruling was upheld although Stewart questioned the officials. West Fork scored the next five points to take a 17-12 advantage. Coming out of a time-out called by Stewart, Anna Kidd's kill broke the run, but West Fork quickly fashioned another, closing out the second set with an 8-4 run to win game-two, 25-16.
Facing a must-win situation, Prairie Grove continued to battle uphill in the third set. West Fork led 9-4 early before Gerwig strung together a trio of aces to help Prairie Grove rally back into the lead at 10-9. Later in the set, a hard Gerwig hit was played by West Fork and stuck in the ceiling. Initially, Prairie Grove was awarded the point and led 13-11; but two-points later West Fork coach Lisa Kirk argued for a no play and officials took away the point. The score was changed to 12-12. West Fork claimed the next point to move in front, 13-12; but Gerwig smashed three kills and Kara Anderson dished out three aces pushing Prairie Grove's led to 21-14. The two seniors combined for a set (Kara Anderson) and kill (Gerwig) to finish off game-three, 25-16.
Again facing elimination, Prairie Grove weathered another West Fork run in the fourth set. Prairie Grove jumped out to 9-2 kill capped by Gerwig's kill; but West Fork was again able to turn the game in their favor. Senior setter Cassie Cartwright contributed a pair of aces and Griffin added three kills as West Fork captured a 19-18 lead to conclude a 17-9 run. Gerwig, who had difficulty serving during match, came up big with two aces. Alexander robbed West Fork of a kill with a dig leading to another Gerwig kill giving Prairie Grove a 22-20 edge. West Fork regained their composure to forge a 22-22 tie, but Prairie Grove got the break they needed. With two players colliding, West Fork bailed them out by stepping into the net with the go-ahead point awarded to Prairie Grove. Cadi Williamson's ace brought Prairie Grove to game-point and after West Fork drew within, 24-23, on a service error; sophomore Kayley Anderson pounded a kill to give Prairie Grove a narrow 25-23 game-four win.
In the tiebreaker, West Force slipped ahead, 9-6, behind two Griffin kills. Prairie Grove answered with Alexander's ace and a Gerwig back-roll kill tying the game at 9-9. The lead see-sawed back and forth before Gerwig's kill pushed Prairie Grove in front, 12-11. Kara Anderson (set) and Gerwig (kill) teamed up for the next two points, bringing Prairie Grove to match-point, at 14-11. West Fork scored the next two points, but Kayley Anderson's dig fed her sister Kara Anderson's set for Gerwig's kill to win the fifth set, 15-13.
Sports on 09/14/2016