FARMINGTON -- A sense of anticipation surged through Farmington's 2019 volleyball team, eight seniors strong, as the season approached and they didn't disappoint themselves or their coach.
The seniors featured talented team-leaders: Kally Stout (266 kills), Addy Cassell (44 aces) and Paige Anderson (276 digs) along with Brittany Pitman, who was second in aces (40), blocks (44) and digs (235) plus third in kills (144). She also had 22 assists. Stout also had 106 digs and 15 blocks.
Seniors Madison Lovell, third in aces (34) and digs (174); Caitlin Crisman; Cambre Strange; and Larkin Lynch rounded out the class.
"We were really excited about this season coming into it. We knew we had a lot of potential, but we still have to play the games on the schedule,"said second-year head coach Mike Howard.
That schedule included three dates, in which Farmington had never won prior to 2019.
Farmington won its first-ever conference championship and reached the quarterfinals of the State 4A volleyball tournament before losing, 25-18, 14-25, 16-25, 19-25, to the host team, Morrilton, which went 24-5-1.
The Lady Cardinals finished 21-5-1 overall and 12-0 in conference competition.
"I think that we opened a lot of eyes, not only through this school with players coming up through the program, but also around the conference and around the state that Farmington volleyball is a force to be reckoned with," Howard said.
Howard realized the power to shape what opportunity the season afforded lay in his hands and he implemented strategic changes.
During Howard's first season in 2018 the team played on emotion channeled through a high-energy bench. There was a lot of fist-pumping and noise heralding each successful play, but Howard decided to switch gears for the 2019 season to offset what sometimes turned into a roller coaster ride of peaks and valleys.
"I'm never going to be the coach that tells any girls not to play with emotion, but we had some ups and downs last season that I think we attributed to maybe getting a little down on ourselves," Howard said. "We managed those a little bit better this year and it showed through some of the results. We still ride the highs when things are going well, but when things go a little bit off we focus up and rely on our talents and how we've been coached and how we know we can play; and we got the results on the scoreboard."
Farmington started off with a bang. After dropping its first set of the season, 21-25, on the road at Class 5A Siloam Springs Aug. 27 the Lady Cardinals ripped off three straight wins, 25-17, 25-14, 25-21, with Stout, at outside hitter; and Fenton, at middle hitter, pounding 15 kills apiece. Pittman added 7 kills and sophomore Remington Adams dished out 31 assists.
Adams accounted for 564 of Farmington's 775 assists. She had 178 digs and served 18 aces and will be a key returner next season.
Almost before the Lady Panthers could catch their breath the match was over. Farmington had never won a volleyball match at Panther Activity Center before. This was a sign of things to come. Ten days later, Farmington won for the first time ever at Alma, sweeping the Airdalettes, 25-15, 25-11, 25-19. Farmington sent 10 aces over the net led by senior Addy Cassell with 4.
By the end of September Farmington held first place among 4A-1 teams with a 6-0 league record and was 5-1-1 in nonconference matches bearing an overall mark of 11-1-1. At that juncture, the Lady Cardinals had only lost two sets in conference play and momentum achieved through consistency was clearly building.
"Along about halfway through we got a taste of what we, as a team, could accomplish and we pushed hard through the conference, 12-0, conference championship," Howard said.
On Oct. 1, Farmington faced a tough test hosting 10-time conference champion, Shiloh Christian, which was 4-2 in league play and not out of the conference race. The Lady Saints were no longer in contention by the time dustmops were brought out to groom the floor of Cardinal Arena. The Lady Cardinals earned the school's first victory over Shiloh Christian in volleyball with a decisive, 25-17, 25-23, 27-25, sweep.
Farmington would lose only one more set in league matches the rest of the way and completed a perfect 4A-1 regular season with a 25-19, 25-22, 25-23, three-game win at Harrison on Oct. 17.
Sports on 01/15/2020