Fairfield sweeps McClain in 3 games for non-conference win
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — The Fairfield Lady Lions defended their home court on Monday night by beginning the week with a win over a Highland County rival. Fairfield led for most of the match and didn’t lose a game, as they defeated the visiting McClain Lady Tigers in three consecutive games.
Fairfield (9-2) won the games by scores of 25-17, 25-14 and 25-20 and did so by getting off to strong starts in each of the three games, as they built a 3-0 lead to start each game at Grandle Gymnasium.
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“The girls played well from start to finish. The girls did have a couple letdowns but not very much,” Fairfield head coach Lesley Hattan said. “Serving was really good, and we had a lot of digs that were just incredible, so I was proud of them.
“Our girls stay very calm, they are mentally tough and focused and they have a drive that will take them pretty far and make them work through a lot of struggles.”
The Lady Lions in Game 1 got off to not only a 3-0 lead after three straight out-of-bounds hits by McClain, but held a 4-1 lead after a play at the net following a point by Kami Magee. As the first game continued, it was Fairfield’s Layla Hattan scoring a point for a 9-5 lead, followed by a kill from Hattan for a 10-5 advantage.
McClain came back with a spike from Taylor Butterbaugh, but that was answered with a point at the net by Grace Lawson for a 12-6 lead for the Lady Lions. The FHS lead was eventually at four points (16-12) when Kaiti White scored a point off a serve. The FHS lead sat at 22-13 with consecutive points scored by Taylor Lawson, White and Hattan. McClain’s Kaleigh Easter battled to keep the Lady Tigers in the first game, as did Jaelyn Pitzer, with the 24th point scored by Ally Davis. Game one eventually ended with FHS winning by eight points at 25-17.
The second game was tied on four occasions at 4-4, 5-5, 6-6 and 12-12 with MHS tying the score at 4-4 when Allara Spurlock had an ace. She scored three straight points to put MHS in front at 5-4. The lead then went to 5-5 with a Fairfield point, then 6-5 in favor of the Lady Lions. McClain tied the score at 6-6 with a point from Makenzie Montavon.
FHS held a 10-8 lead off a play at the net by Taylor Lawson, and later the Lady Tigers held a 12-9 advantage. Fairfield rallied back to tie it at 12-12, and then Taylor Lawson had a kill for a 13-12 lead. The Lady Lions added to their lead with a point from Hattan and an ace by Davis. Once FHS held a 16-12 lead, the Lady Tigers called a timeout and scored the following point. From there, though, the Fairfield advantage went from 16-13 to 24-13 as FHS scored eight straight points, some off serves from Taylor Lawson. MHS scored one last point in game two, and that was followed by MHS hitting the ball out of play for the 25-14 win for the Lady Lions.
In the third game, the Lady Lions got off to a 5-0 advantage and then led by a 8-1 score with help from Hattan and White before forcing MHS to call a timeout. The momentum of the match quickly changed to the favor of McClain, as they made it a 9-5 score with their fifth point of Game 3 from Montavon. FHS built their lead back to a 12-7 advantage with an ace from Lauren Arnold, but points by McClain’s Cierra Bolender, Montavon and Butterbaugh made it a two-point differential. Later, MHS tied the score at 13-13.
McClain took the lead with a point by Bolender, but the Lady Lions tied the game three contest at 14-14 and later at 15-15. MHS continued to take back the lead with help from Maddy Crawford, Easter and Macie Adams for a 19-16 lead. Again, Fairfield didn’t let up and tied game three at 19-19, and later McClain tied the score at 20-20. From there, Fairfield took a 21-20 lead, then scored the final four points with an ace by Arnold and three straight points by White to end game three and the match for the 25-20 win.
“Kaiti finished the match strong, and she showed her senior leadership and finished it,” Hattan said.
McClain head coach Taylor Alsop spoke about the match on Monday night.
“We just weren’t moving our feet. We got a bad call, and instead of just playing through it, they’d rather get their heads down and argue about it instead of just letting me handle it,” Alsop said. “Cierra played well, and passing-wise Macie Adams did a good job for us. Ashley Hardesty had some good passes. Kaleigh and Makenzie stepped up for us with their sets, and Allara stepped up as well. Everybody was doing what they were supposed to be doing, but it just wasn’t clicking for some reason.”
Next for McClain is an away FAC match at Hillsboro on Tuesday. The Lady Lions will play in an away SHAC match at Fayetteville Tuesday.
Fairfield (9-2) won the games by scores of 25-17, 25-14 and 25-20 and did so by getting off to strong starts in each of the three games, as they built a 3-0 lead to start each game at Grandle Gymnasium.
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“The girls played well from start to finish. The girls did have a couple letdowns but not very much,” Fairfield head coach Lesley Hattan said. “Serving was really good, and we had a lot of digs that were just incredible, so I was proud of them.
“Our girls stay very calm, they are mentally tough and focused and they have a drive that will take them pretty far and make them work through a lot of struggles.”
The Lady Lions in Game 1 got off to not only a 3-0 lead after three straight out-of-bounds hits by McClain, but held a 4-1 lead after a play at the net following a point by Kami Magee. As the first game continued, it was Fairfield’s Layla Hattan scoring a point for a 9-5 lead, followed by a kill from Hattan for a 10-5 advantage.
McClain came back with a spike from Taylor Butterbaugh, but that was answered with a point at the net by Grace Lawson for a 12-6 lead for the Lady Lions. The FHS lead was eventually at four points (16-12) when Kaiti White scored a point off a serve. The FHS lead sat at 22-13 with consecutive points scored by Taylor Lawson, White and Hattan. McClain’s Kaleigh Easter battled to keep the Lady Tigers in the first game, as did Jaelyn Pitzer, with the 24th point scored by Ally Davis. Game one eventually ended with FHS winning by eight points at 25-17.
The second game was tied on four occasions at 4-4, 5-5, 6-6 and 12-12 with MHS tying the score at 4-4 when Allara Spurlock had an ace. She scored three straight points to put MHS in front at 5-4. The lead then went to 5-5 with a Fairfield point, then 6-5 in favor of the Lady Lions. McClain tied the score at 6-6 with a point from Makenzie Montavon.
FHS held a 10-8 lead off a play at the net by Taylor Lawson, and later the Lady Tigers held a 12-9 advantage. Fairfield rallied back to tie it at 12-12, and then Taylor Lawson had a kill for a 13-12 lead. The Lady Lions added to their lead with a point from Hattan and an ace by Davis. Once FHS held a 16-12 lead, the Lady Tigers called a timeout and scored the following point. From there, though, the Fairfield advantage went from 16-13 to 24-13 as FHS scored eight straight points, some off serves from Taylor Lawson. MHS scored one last point in game two, and that was followed by MHS hitting the ball out of play for the 25-14 win for the Lady Lions.
In the third game, the Lady Lions got off to a 5-0 advantage and then led by a 8-1 score with help from Hattan and White before forcing MHS to call a timeout. The momentum of the match quickly changed to the favor of McClain, as they made it a 9-5 score with their fifth point of Game 3 from Montavon. FHS built their lead back to a 12-7 advantage with an ace from Lauren Arnold, but points by McClain’s Cierra Bolender, Montavon and Butterbaugh made it a two-point differential. Later, MHS tied the score at 13-13.
McClain took the lead with a point by Bolender, but the Lady Lions tied the game three contest at 14-14 and later at 15-15. MHS continued to take back the lead with help from Maddy Crawford, Easter and Macie Adams for a 19-16 lead. Again, Fairfield didn’t let up and tied game three at 19-19, and later McClain tied the score at 20-20. From there, Fairfield took a 21-20 lead, then scored the final four points with an ace by Arnold and three straight points by White to end game three and the match for the 25-20 win.
“Kaiti finished the match strong, and she showed her senior leadership and finished it,” Hattan said.
McClain head coach Taylor Alsop spoke about the match on Monday night.
“We just weren’t moving our feet. We got a bad call, and instead of just playing through it, they’d rather get their heads down and argue about it instead of just letting me handle it,” Alsop said. “Cierra played well, and passing-wise Macie Adams did a good job for us. Ashley Hardesty had some good passes. Kaleigh and Makenzie stepped up for us with their sets, and Allara stepped up as well. Everybody was doing what they were supposed to be doing, but it just wasn’t clicking for some reason.”
Next for McClain is an away FAC match at Hillsboro on Tuesday. The Lady Lions will play in an away SHAC match at Fayetteville Tuesday.