FARMINGTON -- Farmington's aggression brought the Lady Cardinals out of a 23-19 deficit to win the third set, 27-25, and sweep Shiloh Christian for the first time ever Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Farmington claimed the 4A-1 volleyball match at Cardinal Arena in three sets, 25-17, 25-23, 27-25, improving its overall record to 12-1-1 with an unblemished 7-0 conference record.
"We know our offense. If we be aggressive and we swing hard, then we can earn points against anybody," said Farmington coach Mike Howard. "We got a little bit timid in the middle, maybe too timid for my liking. Then we made a change towards the end and we pushed through and we won in the end."
Meanwhile Shiloh Christian, which has won 10 straight volleyball conference championships, to go with state crowns in 2015 and 2017 dropped to 8-12-1 overall and 4-3 in the 4A-1. Nathan Bodenstein has been Shiloh Christian head coach since 2014.
The Lady Saints lost at Harrison (3-2) on Sept. 10 and to Berryville (3-0) on Sept. 19.
Shiloh Christian held the lead for much of the game with its biggest margin of six points at 18-12 with a 6-1 run. Four Farmington service errors contributed to the deficit, but the Lady Cardinals eliminated those mistakes down the stretch. Shayley Treat had 3 kills during a 7-2 run.
"After two (sets) I know that Coach Bodenstein and Shiloh they're not going to go away. They're too good for that. They're going to fight. They're going to make us earn every bit," Howard said. "They did. They pushed us to the brink past points."
Addison Fenton recorded a block-kill at the net to pull Farmington within 21-19, then appeared to replicate the feat but the officials made opposite calls. One awarding a point to Farmington and the other awarding a point to Shiloh Christian.
Howard stated his case and the officials conferred then signaled a point for the Lady Cardinals. Then Bodenstein asked for a replay and the officials conferred again and took away the point which would have brought Farmington within 21-20.
Momentum shifted to Shiloh Christian, which won the next two points capped by 6-1 junior Rylee Odell's kill giving the Lady Saints a four-point advantage of 23-19.
Howard called time-out and rallied the troops.
Junior Madison Cox recovered from a Saint block and played the ball back over the net catching Shiloh off-guard. She laughed as the unconventional kill hit the floor. Farmington then set up its offense with Fenton (dig), Remington Adams (set) and Kally Stout (kill) scoring the next point. Stout pounded a second consecutive kill, then Shiloh Christian hit the ball out-of-bounds allowing Farmington to tie the set at 23-all with a 4-0 run.
Bodenstein called time and went to his big hitter with sophomore Kathleen Murphee setting up Odell's kill bringing the Lady Saints to game-point at 24-23.
Fenton answered with a soft kill for Farmington, but Shiloh Christian, too, stayed aggressive and Avery Porter's kill once again placed the visitors at game-point leading 25-24.
Farmington proved equal to the challenge with Adams passing to Fenton for the game-tying kill.
The Lady Cardinals took their first lead since 1-0 on Paige Anderson's ace then claimed the set (27-25) and match (3-0) when Odell's hit went long.
"I also have faith in my girls that have got enough leadership, my upperclassmen and then our sophomores that are playing have been through the fire as well so I knew we weren't going to buckle. It was going to be a battle to the end," Howard said.
The Lady Cardinals held a 1-0 lead in the second set with a kill bouncing off the net and hitting the floor on Shiloh Christian's side.
"Is everybody ready? Don't just stand there and watch it drop," Bodenstein exhorted his team.
From that juncture Shiloh Christian battled and kept the score close with Farmington never leading by more than six points. Treat's ace brought the Lady Cardinals to game-point leading 24-20. Shiloh Christian scored three straight points prompting Howard to sub Adams in. She collided with Fenton with Farmington leading 16-13 and briefly went to the training room before returning to the bench.
The substitution proved timely with Adams taking a pass from Anderson then passing to Stout for the game-winning, 25-23, kill to polish off the second set.
"I trust our depth. We had a little collision on the court. Our training staff was right there waiting in the wings and wanted to check everybody out so my assistant made the sub. I have full confidence that we can win with our second string. We practice every day. We're varsity level so we didn't have a drop-off. We came and competed and we earned points," Howard said. "Once she was cleared we get her back in the game and we went up by two and we push onto that third set."
Farmington pulled away from a 12-12 tie in the first set with a 13-5 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Madison Lovell (dig), Adams (set) and Treat (kill) teamed up to notch two of the last three points and Farmington won 25-17.
Sports on 10/09/2019