Fairfield Lady Lions win 2019 Spike and Dig volleyball championship
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Saturday afternoon was a time for celebration for the Fairfield Lady Lions as they earned the championship at the 2019 Highland County Spike and Dig Volleyball Tournament held at Hillsboro High School.
Fairfield — who were the champions of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference last season — won on Saturday in the season-opening tournament by defeating the Hillsboro Lady Indians in two games (best of three series) and then in the finals won two of three games played against the McClain Lady Tigers for the tournament victory.
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Hillsboro placed third overall, as they defeated the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats in the third-place match. For the tournament, Fairfield finished 2-0, while McClain was 1-1, Hillsboro was 1-1 and Whiteoak went 0-2.
The start of the tournament was the Fairfield Lady Lions against the home team Hillsboro, and in the first game the Lady Lions dominated by a 25-6 score. The second game played was much closer as it ended up being Fairfield winning by a 25-23 score.
The score was tied six times, with the final time being at 22-22. Before that score, Fairfield’s Layla Hattan tied the score at 3-3, but later the score was all tied up at five points when Hillsboro’s Hope Middleton had a kill for the point scored. Later, Fairfield took a 7-5 advantage with Braylynn Haines gaining a point for the Lady Lions with an ace.
The second game continued with Abby Brown of Hillsboro getting HHS to within two points of the Fairfield lead at 13-11. After FHS took a three-point lead, it was Middleton once again getting the Lady Indians to within two points of FHS. Later, the score was tied at 17 each, and again at 20 points each.
After the score had a 22-all score, Fairfield’s Saylor Priest scored a point off a serve to put FHS back ahead at 23-22, and eventually the second game and match was won when Haines scored a point at the net to move FHS to the finals.
The second match of the event was the McClain Lady Tigers against the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats, where McClain won both games by scores of 25-15 and 25-21.
This match saw the score tied four times with the first tied score being 4-4 when Kaleigh Easter scored a point at the net. Following a 5-5 score, McClain’s Camryn McCoy pushed MHS ahead, and later she helped make the score an 8-5 lead for the Lady Tigers with a point off a serve.
The score was tied at 12-12 with the help of the 11th Whiteoak point tallied by Alex Greene, followed by a 12th point for the tied score when McClain hit the ball out of play. MHS regained the lead with a kill by Maddy Crawford for a 13-12 advantage.
McClain and Whiteoak continue to exchange points until the score was tied at 18-18, but following that MHS took the lead for good, eventually winning the second game with the 24th point from Jaelyn Pitzer and the final point scored when WHS hit the ball out of play.
Hillsboro and Whiteoak faced each other in the third-place game, where Hillsboro won by scores of 25-21 and 28-26.
The second game was full of excitement for both teams, and at one point Whiteoak led by eight points at 18-10 following a point at the net from Jeanette Cox. The lead eventually went to 21-10 when Kiley Hamilton and Cox played strong at the net, but from there Hillsboro had a big-time rally to eventually tie the score at 24.
Hillsboro’s run to keep the second game going for them included an 11th point from Paige Loudin, followed by a point by Gracie Michael. The score was then 22-13 when Gracie Dean added to the Hillsboro scoring.
Later, Whiteoak took a 23-15 advantage with the help of a point off a kill by Cylee Bratton, and that was followed by a point off an out-of-play hit by HHS, putting them down to one point from seeing them end game two.
That didn’t turn out to be the end though as Hillsboro scored the next nine points with help from Dean, Katie Condo (with a block) and Loudin to eventually make it a 24-24 score. WHS took the lead at 25-24 with Hillsboro hitting the ball four consecutive times, but again, the score was tied at 25.
Next, HHS took a one-point lead, and then WHS tied the score at 26 with a point from Destiny Price. HHS responded with a point by Loudin, and then the game ended with HHS gaining the final two-point scoring differential at 28-26.
In the championship finals, McClain won the first game at 25-23, and Fairfield fought back to tie the games won at 1-1 with a 25-16 victory, setting up a winner-take-all game three final for the Spike and Dig championship.
Fairfield led early at 8-5, but McClain came back with a tied score of 8-8 off a serve from the Lady Tigers. Later, FHS took a two-point lead with the help of a point from Taylor Lawson and Peyton Magee. The score was tied at 10-10 with a point at the net by McClain’s Crawford, forcing FHS to call a timeout.
MHS took an 11-10 advantage with a serve by Ashley Hardesty and continued to build their lead to 13-10. FHS eventually tied the score at 13 apiece with a serve by Lawson, which also led to a one-point lead for Fairfield.
McClain tied the score at 14 with a point by Pitzer, but Fairfield was waiting and regained the lead with a point scored at the net by Haines.
Fairfield eventually took a 19-16 lead, and later that lead turned into a 21-17 advantage with a serve by Faith Miller. MHS cut into the lead with a big play from Iva Easter for a 21-18 deficit for MHS.
FHS later held a 23-19 lead and then a 24-21 advantage. The final point scored came from an out-of-bounds hit by the Lady Tigers, sending Fairfield to the championship and a 2-0 record to start the season.
Fairfield — who were the champions of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference last season — won on Saturday in the season-opening tournament by defeating the Hillsboro Lady Indians in two games (best of three series) and then in the finals won two of three games played against the McClain Lady Tigers for the tournament victory.
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Hillsboro placed third overall, as they defeated the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats in the third-place match. For the tournament, Fairfield finished 2-0, while McClain was 1-1, Hillsboro was 1-1 and Whiteoak went 0-2.
The start of the tournament was the Fairfield Lady Lions against the home team Hillsboro, and in the first game the Lady Lions dominated by a 25-6 score. The second game played was much closer as it ended up being Fairfield winning by a 25-23 score.
The score was tied six times, with the final time being at 22-22. Before that score, Fairfield’s Layla Hattan tied the score at 3-3, but later the score was all tied up at five points when Hillsboro’s Hope Middleton had a kill for the point scored. Later, Fairfield took a 7-5 advantage with Braylynn Haines gaining a point for the Lady Lions with an ace.
The second game continued with Abby Brown of Hillsboro getting HHS to within two points of the Fairfield lead at 13-11. After FHS took a three-point lead, it was Middleton once again getting the Lady Indians to within two points of FHS. Later, the score was tied at 17 each, and again at 20 points each.
After the score had a 22-all score, Fairfield’s Saylor Priest scored a point off a serve to put FHS back ahead at 23-22, and eventually the second game and match was won when Haines scored a point at the net to move FHS to the finals.
The second match of the event was the McClain Lady Tigers against the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats, where McClain won both games by scores of 25-15 and 25-21.
This match saw the score tied four times with the first tied score being 4-4 when Kaleigh Easter scored a point at the net. Following a 5-5 score, McClain’s Camryn McCoy pushed MHS ahead, and later she helped make the score an 8-5 lead for the Lady Tigers with a point off a serve.
The score was tied at 12-12 with the help of the 11th Whiteoak point tallied by Alex Greene, followed by a 12th point for the tied score when McClain hit the ball out of play. MHS regained the lead with a kill by Maddy Crawford for a 13-12 advantage.
McClain and Whiteoak continue to exchange points until the score was tied at 18-18, but following that MHS took the lead for good, eventually winning the second game with the 24th point from Jaelyn Pitzer and the final point scored when WHS hit the ball out of play.
Hillsboro and Whiteoak faced each other in the third-place game, where Hillsboro won by scores of 25-21 and 28-26.
The second game was full of excitement for both teams, and at one point Whiteoak led by eight points at 18-10 following a point at the net from Jeanette Cox. The lead eventually went to 21-10 when Kiley Hamilton and Cox played strong at the net, but from there Hillsboro had a big-time rally to eventually tie the score at 24.
Hillsboro’s run to keep the second game going for them included an 11th point from Paige Loudin, followed by a point by Gracie Michael. The score was then 22-13 when Gracie Dean added to the Hillsboro scoring.
Later, Whiteoak took a 23-15 advantage with the help of a point off a kill by Cylee Bratton, and that was followed by a point off an out-of-play hit by HHS, putting them down to one point from seeing them end game two.
That didn’t turn out to be the end though as Hillsboro scored the next nine points with help from Dean, Katie Condo (with a block) and Loudin to eventually make it a 24-24 score. WHS took the lead at 25-24 with Hillsboro hitting the ball four consecutive times, but again, the score was tied at 25.
Next, HHS took a one-point lead, and then WHS tied the score at 26 with a point from Destiny Price. HHS responded with a point by Loudin, and then the game ended with HHS gaining the final two-point scoring differential at 28-26.
In the championship finals, McClain won the first game at 25-23, and Fairfield fought back to tie the games won at 1-1 with a 25-16 victory, setting up a winner-take-all game three final for the Spike and Dig championship.
Fairfield led early at 8-5, but McClain came back with a tied score of 8-8 off a serve from the Lady Tigers. Later, FHS took a two-point lead with the help of a point from Taylor Lawson and Peyton Magee. The score was tied at 10-10 with a point at the net by McClain’s Crawford, forcing FHS to call a timeout.
MHS took an 11-10 advantage with a serve by Ashley Hardesty and continued to build their lead to 13-10. FHS eventually tied the score at 13 apiece with a serve by Lawson, which also led to a one-point lead for Fairfield.
McClain tied the score at 14 with a point by Pitzer, but Fairfield was waiting and regained the lead with a point scored at the net by Haines.
Fairfield eventually took a 19-16 lead, and later that lead turned into a 21-17 advantage with a serve by Faith Miller. MHS cut into the lead with a big play from Iva Easter for a 21-18 deficit for MHS.
FHS later held a 23-19 lead and then a 24-21 advantage. The final point scored came from an out-of-bounds hit by the Lady Tigers, sending Fairfield to the championship and a 2-0 record to start the season.