PRAIRIE GROVE -- A wounded Prairie Grove volleyball team came off the ropes after trailing 24-22 in the first set and came back to sweep Gravette (29-27, 25-13, 25-20) on Sept. 24.
The victory boosted the Lady Tigers coming off a tough 5-set road loss (17-25, 25-21, 25-10, 24-26, 12-15) at West Fork on Sept. 22. Prairie Grove played without Madison Hutchinson suffering from a pulled quad. She didn't return until a Sept. 29 match against Farmington -- ditto for Abbey Ingram, who sat out with a bad back.
Gravette had Prairie Grove on the ropes, leading 24-22 in the first set and twice more reached game-point but couldn't deliver the knockout blow and the Lady Tigers rallied to pull off a 29-27 win.
"We had a couple of injuries in the match before Gravette. We had two starters out so we had a mismatched lineup. We were down by 10 in the first set and the girls came back and fought," said Prairie Grove coach Lindsey Biocic. "We just took that momentum and we ran with it. That kind of momentum I'm working for us to get started with every single match. I think a lot of it starts with confidence."
The teams circled one another like boxers slugging it out. Prairie Grove answered five straight points by Gravette in game one by tying the first set at 5-5
The scenario then played out in reverse with Prairie Grove owning the next 5 points only to have the Lady Lions tie the game at 10-all with a 5-0 run.
Both teams battled. Gravette went up big, but couldn't hold the lead. Prairie Grove clawed away, fighting an uphill climb until the score was tied at 22-22.
Gravette wasted an opportunity to put the Lady Tigers away after notching the next two points to reach game-point leading 24-22.
Prairie Grove found means to stay in the game by putting together back-to-back points. Gravette again reached game-point with a 25-24 advantage but couldn't master the win-by-two volleyball requirement.
Prairie Grove tied the game at 25 and again at 27 before reeling off two unanswered points to claim a hard-fought come-from-behind 29-27 victory, capturing a 1-0 lead in the best of five match.
The Lady Tigers dominated the second set, capitalizing upon their momentum boost and Gravette's disappointment over their inability to finish. Prairie Grove won game two, 25-13, putting the Lady Lions on the verge of elimination.
The teams exchanged a number of extended volleys in game three before the Lady Tigers reeled off five straight points to win the set, 25-20, and the match, 3-0.
Lexi Light topped the Lady Tigers with 6 aces. Kenleigh Elder and Kennedy Conrad shared top honors for kills with 7 apiece. Kylie Kruse and Pierce chipped in 12 assists apiece and Sydney Stearman contributed 31 digs for Prairie Grove.
