Lady Lions take down rival Whiteoak
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — In an early season match for first place in the Southern Hills League, it was the Fairfield Lady Lions who left Grandle Gymnasium with the win, defeating the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats three games to one for the match and league win, Thursday in Leesburg.
Fairfield, 4-0 in the SHL, won the first game by a score of 25-22, followed by the Lady Wildcats winning the second game at 28-26. FHS won the next two games for the match win by scores of 25-16 and 25-16.
"You have to credit Fairfield … they hit the ball well and they played well," WHS coach Don Rahe said. "We didn't play bad, but their attack was the difference of the match."
The theme of the match, and every game, was the same … the Lady Lions tallied a big lead, then the Lady Wildcats would make the game interesting with a comeback, sometimes tying the game, and in the second set they won the match by forcing extra points, as they won 28-26.
In the second game FHS led 23-15, but the Lady Wildcats, rallied eventually tying the match at 24. They took a one-point lead, but the Lady Lions came back, tying the game at 25. After a ball landing out of bounds put WHS up 26-25, WHS hit their own side of the net, allowing FHS to tie the score at 26. The final two WHS points of the second game came from FHS hitting their own side of the net, and the win of game two occurred with FHS hitting the ball out of bounds for the 28-26 score.
In the third game, WHS led early by scores of 4-3, 5-4, 7-6, but the Lady Lions came back by tying the score at seven. FHS then ran away with a nine-point lead (19-10) with point 19 coming from Reann Hurst. The score went to 20-11 with the help from libero Sirenity Smith.
Following the point by Smith, Whitney Hanenkrat added another point to the FHS side of the scoreboard for a 10-point advantage. After another point by Hurst later in the match, Hanenkrat spiked the ball to the WHS side of the court. FHS finished the third game with the final point scored by Sydney Corzatt. Corzatt finished the match with 20 assists.
"We have a very strong front line," FHS coach MaryBeth Hodson said. "We played really well, but it comes back to our front line play.
"No matter how we rotate, we always have two strong players up on the front of the net."
FHS took a 14-9 lead in the fourth game, including a 7-2 lead in that span with seventh point from Brenna Simmons. Then, like in the previous three games, the Lady Wildcats continued to battle until they tied the game at 15 with a block from Amber Gorman.
For the match, Kaley Davis collected 14 assists. Brenna Simmons had nine digs.
"I'm not disappointed with how we played. We had our chances, but they just beat us," Rahe said. "I'm proud of our kids, but they (FHS) were just the better team tonight."
The Lady Lions regained the advantage and didn't trail for the remainder of the fourth game or the match as Hurst scored the 23rd and 24th points of the game. FHS won the match by scoring final six points.
Fairfield jumps to 4-2 overall and 4-0 in the SHL. WHS falls to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the SHL.
MATCH SCORES
Game 1 — 25-22, FHS
Game 2 — 28-26, WHS
Game 3 — 25-16, FHS
Game 4 — 25-16, FHS[[In-content Ad]]
Fairfield, 4-0 in the SHL, won the first game by a score of 25-22, followed by the Lady Wildcats winning the second game at 28-26. FHS won the next two games for the match win by scores of 25-16 and 25-16.
"You have to credit Fairfield … they hit the ball well and they played well," WHS coach Don Rahe said. "We didn't play bad, but their attack was the difference of the match."
The theme of the match, and every game, was the same … the Lady Lions tallied a big lead, then the Lady Wildcats would make the game interesting with a comeback, sometimes tying the game, and in the second set they won the match by forcing extra points, as they won 28-26.
In the second game FHS led 23-15, but the Lady Wildcats, rallied eventually tying the match at 24. They took a one-point lead, but the Lady Lions came back, tying the game at 25. After a ball landing out of bounds put WHS up 26-25, WHS hit their own side of the net, allowing FHS to tie the score at 26. The final two WHS points of the second game came from FHS hitting their own side of the net, and the win of game two occurred with FHS hitting the ball out of bounds for the 28-26 score.
In the third game, WHS led early by scores of 4-3, 5-4, 7-6, but the Lady Lions came back by tying the score at seven. FHS then ran away with a nine-point lead (19-10) with point 19 coming from Reann Hurst. The score went to 20-11 with the help from libero Sirenity Smith.
Following the point by Smith, Whitney Hanenkrat added another point to the FHS side of the scoreboard for a 10-point advantage. After another point by Hurst later in the match, Hanenkrat spiked the ball to the WHS side of the court. FHS finished the third game with the final point scored by Sydney Corzatt. Corzatt finished the match with 20 assists.
"We have a very strong front line," FHS coach MaryBeth Hodson said. "We played really well, but it comes back to our front line play.
"No matter how we rotate, we always have two strong players up on the front of the net."
FHS took a 14-9 lead in the fourth game, including a 7-2 lead in that span with seventh point from Brenna Simmons. Then, like in the previous three games, the Lady Wildcats continued to battle until they tied the game at 15 with a block from Amber Gorman.
For the match, Kaley Davis collected 14 assists. Brenna Simmons had nine digs.
"I'm not disappointed with how we played. We had our chances, but they just beat us," Rahe said. "I'm proud of our kids, but they (FHS) were just the better team tonight."
The Lady Lions regained the advantage and didn't trail for the remainder of the fourth game or the match as Hurst scored the 23rd and 24th points of the game. FHS won the match by scoring final six points.
Fairfield jumps to 4-2 overall and 4-0 in the SHL. WHS falls to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the SHL.
MATCH SCORES
Game 1 — 25-22, FHS
Game 2 — 28-26, WHS
Game 3 — 25-16, FHS
Game 4 — 25-16, FHS[[In-content Ad]]