Lady Lions take down Peebles in 4 sets
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — The Fairfield Lady Lions continue their pursuit to stay at the top of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, as they defeated the Peebles Lady Indians in four sets on Tuesday night at Grandle Gymnasium.
The win by Fairfield moves them to 11-0 in the SHAC, with this being the second time they’ve defeated Peebles this season. In the match itself, Peebles won the first set by a 25-21 score, followed by the host Lady Lions battling tough to win the next three straight by scores of 26-24, 25-14 and 25-21.
The Lady Lions have two SHAC matches remaining, with the Eastern Brown Lady Warriors and Fayetteville Lady Rockets left on the schedule in the conference.
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“That was a tough game … I think that was the toughest game we’ve had all season,” Fairfield head coach Lesley Hattan said. “We were very, very slow and very, very sloppy in the first and second sets, and we were able to squeak by and get that second set through. After that, we got our heads in gear and were able to finish strong.
“Our girls are very mentally strong and mentally tough, and that just proved it right there when they were so down in the first and second sets. They were able to come back, clean up their hits and cut down on errors, and they did the job.”
In the first set on Tuesday, Fairfield trailed by a 6-5 score until Ally Davis and Layla Hattan put FHS ahead by a 8-7 score, only to see Peebles’ Christian Reed tie the score at 8-8. The first set continued to be played closely with ties of 13, 14 and 15, but ultimately Peebles earned the set one win with the help of late points by Reed for the 25-21 score.
The second set saw Peebles get off to a very strong start with a 6-0 lead off serves by Kylie Sims and a kill by Tatum Arey. Fairfield came back with a point from Kaiti White, and later she added two more kills for a 7-5 deficit. The sixth point scored by Fairfield was possibly the widest point of the entire season, with both Peebles and the Lady Lions making big-time digs and saves to keep the point going, until Taylor Lawson made the point at the net for a 12-6 deficit.
Fairfield eventually tied the score of the second set at 22-22 with a kill by White, and they took the lead after PHS hit the ball out of play. Peebles tied the score at 23 with a point by Madison Pierce and took a 24-23 lead off a serve by Sims. Fairfield tied the score at 24 after PHS hit the ball out of play once again and scored the 25th and 26th points of the set with a serve by Hattan and a point by White for the 26-24 win, tying the match at 1-1.
Set three was the quickest of the night with FHS dominating the third set at 25-14, seeing the set tied at 3-3, 7-7 and 8-8. FHS took a 9-8 advantage with a point from Davis and later led 14-8 after Kami Magee scored a point. The third set ended with FHS scoring five consecutive points, including the 24th point off a serve by Lauren Arnold for the eventual 25-14 win.
“Hitting was the difference in the third set,” Hattan said. “We started hitting the ball harder, like we were trying to tell them to do in the first two sets. They listened, and hitting was definitely the difference. We were hitting it hard and down.”
The fourth and final set saw FHS lead early by a 6-5 score with serves from White as the score was tied twice early on at 1-1 and 5-5.
Peebles made it a 9-9 score with the help of scoring by Jacey Justice, and later the set was tied at 11 after FHS hit the net. FHS built a 16-12 advantage with an ace by Hattan and later led 19-12 as White had a kill. PHS made it a five-point differential as Justice added a point for the away team, but FHS answered with another point by White. FHS eventually won the fourth set and SHAC match with a point by Lawson at the net for a 25-21 score.
“The girls showed absolute hustle, and they never gave up,” Hattan said.
The win by Fairfield moves them to 11-0 in the SHAC, with this being the second time they’ve defeated Peebles this season. In the match itself, Peebles won the first set by a 25-21 score, followed by the host Lady Lions battling tough to win the next three straight by scores of 26-24, 25-14 and 25-21.
The Lady Lions have two SHAC matches remaining, with the Eastern Brown Lady Warriors and Fayetteville Lady Rockets left on the schedule in the conference.
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“That was a tough game … I think that was the toughest game we’ve had all season,” Fairfield head coach Lesley Hattan said. “We were very, very slow and very, very sloppy in the first and second sets, and we were able to squeak by and get that second set through. After that, we got our heads in gear and were able to finish strong.
“Our girls are very mentally strong and mentally tough, and that just proved it right there when they were so down in the first and second sets. They were able to come back, clean up their hits and cut down on errors, and they did the job.”
In the first set on Tuesday, Fairfield trailed by a 6-5 score until Ally Davis and Layla Hattan put FHS ahead by a 8-7 score, only to see Peebles’ Christian Reed tie the score at 8-8. The first set continued to be played closely with ties of 13, 14 and 15, but ultimately Peebles earned the set one win with the help of late points by Reed for the 25-21 score.
The second set saw Peebles get off to a very strong start with a 6-0 lead off serves by Kylie Sims and a kill by Tatum Arey. Fairfield came back with a point from Kaiti White, and later she added two more kills for a 7-5 deficit. The sixth point scored by Fairfield was possibly the widest point of the entire season, with both Peebles and the Lady Lions making big-time digs and saves to keep the point going, until Taylor Lawson made the point at the net for a 12-6 deficit.
Fairfield eventually tied the score of the second set at 22-22 with a kill by White, and they took the lead after PHS hit the ball out of play. Peebles tied the score at 23 with a point by Madison Pierce and took a 24-23 lead off a serve by Sims. Fairfield tied the score at 24 after PHS hit the ball out of play once again and scored the 25th and 26th points of the set with a serve by Hattan and a point by White for the 26-24 win, tying the match at 1-1.
Set three was the quickest of the night with FHS dominating the third set at 25-14, seeing the set tied at 3-3, 7-7 and 8-8. FHS took a 9-8 advantage with a point from Davis and later led 14-8 after Kami Magee scored a point. The third set ended with FHS scoring five consecutive points, including the 24th point off a serve by Lauren Arnold for the eventual 25-14 win.
“Hitting was the difference in the third set,” Hattan said. “We started hitting the ball harder, like we were trying to tell them to do in the first two sets. They listened, and hitting was definitely the difference. We were hitting it hard and down.”
The fourth and final set saw FHS lead early by a 6-5 score with serves from White as the score was tied twice early on at 1-1 and 5-5.
Peebles made it a 9-9 score with the help of scoring by Jacey Justice, and later the set was tied at 11 after FHS hit the net. FHS built a 16-12 advantage with an ace by Hattan and later led 19-12 as White had a kill. PHS made it a five-point differential as Justice added a point for the away team, but FHS answered with another point by White. FHS eventually won the fourth set and SHAC match with a point by Lawson at the net for a 25-21 score.
“The girls showed absolute hustle, and they never gave up,” Hattan said.