Scrambling, Rambling Lady Tigers

PRAIRIE GROVE SWEEPS GENTRY IN LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL PLAY

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Prairie Grove junior Sydney Stearman serves against Gentry during the Lady Tigers' 3-set sweep Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019 by scores of 25-14, 25-16, 25-19, in 4A-1 Conference play.
MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Prairie Grove junior Sydney Stearman serves against Gentry during the Lady Tigers' 3-set sweep Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019 by scores of 25-14, 25-16, 25-19, in 4A-1 Conference play.

PRAIRIE GROVE -- The Lady Tigers swept Gentry, 25-14, 25-16, 25-19, in a 4A-1 Conference match Thursday, Sept. 19 to up their season record to 7-3-1.

Prairie Grove served a number of aces while Gentry accounted for very few which gave the Lady Tigers an advantage in terms of points scored. Prairie Grove coach Mat Stewart thinks his squad can excel in that area.

"One of our strengths is our serve-receive. We got some fantastic back-row girls. We pass very well. They are very athletic and get to a lot of balls," Stewart said. "Our serves, we try to mix it up and a lot of our girls with whether we need to hit a hard top spin or a jump-serve or float something inside we can do all of those things."

Prairie Grove seized control of the first set from the get-go. Spurred by aces from Samantha Blosser, Kelsey Pickett, Sydney Stearman and Makinsey Parnell the Lady Tigers led 14-4.

After watching Gentry score four straight points, Stewart took time-out. The Lady Tigers responded with a 3-0 mini run fueled by Gentry miscues.

Blosser's kill put Prairie Grove ahead, 20-11, then Abbey Ingram added another kill and Gentry surrendered a point due to miscommunication and not getting a second hit. Madison Hutchinson's ace brought the Lady Tigers to game-point at 24-13 and they won 25-14 on a Lady Pioneer service error.

Prairie Grove started game two on a 10-1 tear capped by Pickett's ace. Gentry hung around for awhile matching the Lady Tigers point-for-point then pulling to within 21-16 but couldn't make up for its early deficit. A bad dig went backwards and Prairie Grove won game two, 25-16.

Gentry coach Erica Jones appreciated that her squad made Prairie Grove work for the sweep in third set. Gentry rallied from being down 21-12 with a 7-3 run culminated by Falyn Cordeiro's ace which drew the Lady Pioneers within 24-19.

"I'm definitely pleased with how they didn't give up," Jones said. "They made a good run."

Gentry (3-6, 0-5) could not, however, avoid a Prairie Grove kill on the final point of the match and lost 25-19.

"We jumped out a couple sets in a row and got some good leads and to Gentry's credit, they picked it up and didn't give up. They were playing hard and good things happened for them," Stewart said. "I felt like our girls maybe got a little too comfortable at times and let Gentry back in, but Gentry's much, much improved this year and they're going to be someone you got to play hard if you want to get out of there with a win."

The third set featured several extended volleys with the Lady Tigers holding their own.

"We believe in scrambling for points. If we're not playing well and we're not hitting the ball or passing well we want to continue to keep the ball alive and keep it in play, and scramble until we get that final kill or hopefully if that doesn't work out, then the other team, we force them into an error. That's kind of what we're looking for this year," Stewart said. "We just don't have thosee 6-2 girls that are going to scare you to death from the other side. We try to dink and tip and roll and we'll swing when we can, but we'll try to mix it up and try to keep you off-balance. Our girls do a really good job of that. Our whole goal is just to keep the ball in play and not beat yourselves."

Sports on 10/09/2019