SPORTS EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is part of an on-going series highlighting top sports stories for the 2010-2019 decade at Farmington High School and its alumni.
FARMINGTON -- Farmington won one and lost one during an exciting trip to the Class 4A State volleyball tournament that ended in the quarterfinals at Morrilton Oct. 29-30.
Tourney host, Morrilton (24-4-1), eliminated Farmington (21-5-1) by winning three straight games after Farmington won the first set with scores of 18-25, 25-14, 25-16, 25-19. Morrilton came into the tournament with the Central's No. 1 seed.
A day earlier Morrilton defeated 4A Northeast No. 4 Southside Batesville in five sets (25-14, 25-11, 23-25, 24-26, 15-4). while the Lady Cardinals advanced to the state quarterfinals with a 25-15, 27-25, 25-12 sweep of Arkadelphia (16-11-1).
"Were not hanging our heads about anything in the state tournament. We won a game, had a chance to win another one and make a big, deep run; but the ball falls different ways in different teams. We keep our head held high on a great season. We're proud of ourselves," said Farmington coach Mike Howard, who owns a 32-13-2 record in two seasons at the helm.
The Lady Cardinals finished 21-5-1 overall and 12-0 in conference competition, winning their first-ever conference championship in volleyball.
Morrilton 3, Farmington 1
Farmington got off to a good start winning game-one, 25-18. Sophomore Morgan Brye served up an ace to begin the match. Senior outside hitter Kally Stout smacked a pair of kills sandwiched around junior Addison Fenton's blast down the middle as Farmington jumped out to an early 6-3 lead.
Senior Brittney Pittman added to the excitement along the front line blocking a Morrilton hit and turning the stop into a kill. Down the stretch Fenton utilized her patented three-step lateral movement to smash a kill off a Remington Adams set which put Farmington ahead 21-16 and became part of a 4-2 Lady Cardinal run to close out the first set with a 25-18 victory.
Momentum flip-flopped to Morrilton and Farmington fought an uphill battle playing from behind in the second set. Playing outside hitter, Brye fended off a hit. Lovell backed her up from the back row sending the ball back over. When Morrilton attempted to return the volley, Brye was in position for a block-kill.
Paige Anderson followed with an ace as the Lady Cardinals fashioned two points in succession, something they desperately needed trailing 18-7. Five of the next eight points went to Morrilton before junior Madison Cox recorded a block-kill to keep Farmington alive but down by a lot at 23-10. Although the Lady Cardinals scored five of the final seven points they were too far behind and lost the second set, 25-14.
Morrilton won the third set 25-16. Facing elimination Farmington made a run in the fourth set. Brye took a pass from Adams and nailed a kill from the outside hitter spot, drawing the Lady Cardinals within 21-18. Morrilton didn't allow Farmington to get back in the match, however, by finishing with a 4-1 run to end the match with a 25-19 win in game-four.
Farmington 3, Arkadelphia 0
Farmington (4A Northwest No. 3) began state tournament play against Arkadelphia (4A West No. 2) on Tuesday, Oct. 29. The Lady Cardinals (21-5-1) advanced to the State 4A volleyball quarterfinals with a 25-15, 27-25, 25-12 sweep of the Lady Badgers. Farmington took an 8-4 lead on Anderson's ace which became critical to the win because Arkadelphia played the next dozen points even with each scoring 6 points apiece to make the score 14-10 in favor of Farmington on Fenton's block-kill. A Pittman serve landed uncontested on the back row, one of 3 aces served by the senior which put the Lady Cardinals in the driver's seat with a 16-10 advantage.
Farmington concluded the first set on a 9-5 run to take game-one, 25-15; then battled to win game-two. Fenton's block-kill knotted the score at 5-all early. Stout scored off Adams' assist with tip-kill that Arkadelphia couldn't handle, giving Farmington a one-point edge of 9-8. The game stayed nip and tuck all the way through the set.
Farmington made the plays it had to have using surprise tactics to notch key points. Pittman's dig was played over by Adams feigning a set, but instead scoring on a dink to break a 24-24 tie. Arkadelphia rallied to earn another tie at 25-25 only to watch Fenton anticipate a hit and block it by moving to her right in the path of the ball which went off the Lady Badgers, bringing Farmington to game-point at 26-25.
The Lady Cardinals worked their offense to perfection to put the set away. Brye received the serve at outside hitter and passed to Adams, who, in turn, set up Pittman's middle hitter kill for the 27-25 victory and a 2-0 lead.
In the third set, Cox, who had 6 digs and a pair of blocks, contributed to a 16-7 Farmington run with a block-kill. Pittman took a return pass from Adams and drilled a left-handed kill to record match-point icing the 25-12 win for the sweep.
Sports on 04/01/2020