Lady Lions win on Volley for a Cause Night against Fayetteville
The Fairfield Lady Lions and Fayetteville Lady Rockets are pictured at the 2024 Volley For A Cause game with honoree Cristal Boles on Tuesday at Grandle Gymnasium. (HCP Photos/Stephen Forsha)
LEESBURG — Honoring Cristal Boles in her fight with cancer on Volley for a Cause night Tuesday, the Fairfield Lady Lions earned a three-set win against the visiting Fayetteville Lady Rockets at Grandle Gymnasium.
The gym was decorated with signs cheering on Boles for the Volley for a Cause game, as the Lady Lions wore pink jerseys and Fayetteville had orange jerseys on for the event that brought out many members of the community with live auctions, silent auctions, bake sales and other events before and during the game.
“Volley for a Cause is something that we do every year. We don't do Volley for a Cure, because we like to focus on the family and our school district and our community that could use the extra help,” FHS head coach Jerrica Stackhouse said. “So we do our auctions, we do our bake sales and fundraisers within the school to help raise money, and then we write a check and give it right back to the family.
“The girls did this for Cristal, and it means a lot. It's always there's so much more to life than volleyball, and our girls are really learning that through all of the stages throughout high school. So to be able to play for more than what we typically play for, it means a lot to them, and they put a lot of pride in that.”
In the Southern Hills Athletic Conference match, the Lady Lions added to their first-place wins in the Division II standings of the conference, winning by scores of 25-17, 25-22 and 25-12.
The win improved the Lady Lions to an overall record of 11-4 with a SHAC mark of 10-1. Fayetteville falls to 6-3 in the SHAC Division II standings and 12-5 overall.
In set one — won by Fairfield at 25-17 — the Lady Lions struck first off a serve by McKinley Cox, as they eventually held a 4-0 lead. Fayetteville battled back, tying the score at 5-5, but FHS took back the lead with a kill from Jobey Hattan.
Fayetteville rallied for a 6-6 score, and the Lady Rockets briefly held a 7-6 lead following a kill from Darcie Reeves. From there, FHS tied the score at 7-7 with a point off hit at the net by Mackenzie Anderson. The Lady Lions then took back the lead for good in the first set, building a 12-8 lead, with help from Anderson and Hattan off serves and points scored.
Later that lead jumped to 16-9, including an ace by Remi Moon, and then at 19-9 when Kelsey Clark set the ball for Hattan to blast over the net and onto the Fayetteville side of the court.
The lead then went to 20-9, and gradually the Lady Lions fended off Fayetteville for the final score of 25-17 as a serve by Clark ended the first set.
Set two had 10 tied scores from 1-1 all the way to 21-21.
The Fairfield scoring included the Lady Lions gaining points off serves by Bales, a block by Clark and a kill from Hattan, but eventually Fayetteville had a rally of their own with them leading from the 12-11 mark all the way to the time FHS tied the score at 18-18 off a kill by Hattan.
Fayetteville regained the lead, only to see Fairfield tie the score at 20-20 on the next serve. Again, the Lady Rockets took back the lead at 21-20, then the scoreboard read 21-21, but points from Cox and Moon launched Fairfield back to a 23-21 advantage.
Next was a hit at the net from Clark, and then two more points scored by Fairfield put them ahead at 23-21. A block by Clark, and two more Fairfield points, gave them a set two win at 25-22.
Fairfield never trailed in set three, with Moon, Bales, Anderson and Jaeden Drury all contributing to the scoring.
“We had a couple stand out. Mackenzie Anderson played great on the right hand side. I think she finished with around 10 kills. Jobey always does a fantastic job on the outside, and McKinley Cox stepped up in the middle,” Stackhouse said.
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