Lady Rockets blast off against Whiteoak

     MOWRYSTOWN - The Whiteoak Lady Wildcats have clinched at least a share of the Southern Hills League Division II championship, but the path as the only team to claim the honor took a wrong turn Monday night, as they were swept in three straight sets by the Fayetteville Lady Rockets in SHL play.

     The Lady Rockets’ fate lies in their own hands, as they have two league losses with two SHL games remaining. If Fayetteville wins both, they tie with the Lady ‘Cats as champions, if they lose one of their next two games, then WHS will be the sole owner of the SHL crown

     On Monday, Fayetteville won by scores of 25-20, 25-11 and 25-14, snapping the 10-match winning streak of Whiteoak.

     “Give the credit to them (Fayetteville), they beat us,” Whiteoak coach Don Rahe said. “They played great, and this is the best I’ve seen Fayetteville play.”

     The Lady ’Cats, who have now won nine SHL championships, batted tough with the Lady Rockets in the first set leading 6-1 early on, including two aces from junior Brittany Tolliver. Fayetteville came back with an ace by Shelby Sheets to make the score 6-3.

     WHS sophomore Jessie Gilliland scored back-to-back points to increase the Lady ’Cats’ lead to 8-4.

     Later in the set, a block by Sheets, along with a couple out of bounds hits by WHS made the scored 11-8. With WHS still leading, a big serve by Lydia Tissandier brought the Lady Rockets within one-point of the lead.

     Fayetteville tied the game at 11, and snatched the top spot with another ace from Tissandier.

     The score was tied again at 12 and 14 points, but consecutive aces by Emily Stahl gave the Lady Rockets a 16-14 advantage.

     Sheets made the score 19-15 with a tip shot, but a spike by Whiteoak sophomore Brooke Burns cut the Fayetteville lead to four points at 22-18. FHS was too strong in the latter stages of the set, scoring the final two points for the 25-20 win.

     Set two for the Lady Wildcats started off even with the Lady Rockets, as the game was tied at 6-6, with WHS points scored by junior Jessica Caplinger and Tolliver.

     Fayetteville took the led at 7-6 and didn’t relinquish for the remainder of the set. Sheets had two straight aces, followed with FHS scoring 10 consecutive points for a 20-9 lead. Scoring for Fayetteville in the 10-point streak were Stahl, Tissandier and Sheets. The set ended with Tissandier’s serves unable to be sent back over the net by WHS.

     “We didn’t have good serve to receive efforts (Monday),” Rahe said. “We weren’t getting good sets, but like I said before, give Fayetteville a lot of credit, they played well.”

     Set three was tied seven times before Fayetteville took over after the final tie.

     Gilliland and Caplinger gave WHS a 2-1 lead, but it quickly turned 3-2 in favor of the Lady Rockets with points by Hahna Tissandier. Burns made the score 3-3 with an off-balanced hit in which the Lady Rockets were unable to return.

     Fayetteville’s Meggy Iles came up big for her team with a timely dig, keeping the point alive, which FHS took a 7-5 lead.

     WHS gained a 9-6 lead with a serve by senior Desiree Green.

     Sarah Godby put FHS in the lead at 10-9, but again, the score would be tied three more times in the set, as a block by Caplinger made the score 12-12.

     Fayetteville took control late in the set with nine consecutive points to make the score 20-12.

     A serve by Godby gave FHS the third set and match victory at 25-14.

     “We are tied for the league no matter what,” Rahe said. “Our girls gave effort, but serve-receive is such an important part of the game. As a whole we needed work.”

     Sheets ended the game with eight kills, three assists and three blocks for FHS. Stahl had 18 assists, and Iles earned five digs. Fayetteville had 22 service points overall.

     Earlier in the season, at Fayetteville, the Lady ’Cats defeated Fayetteville in four sets. Fayetteville now stands at 13-4 overall, 9-2 in the SHL. Their other loss in league action was to North Adams.

     The loss drops Whiteoak to 11-2 in the SHL, 15-5 overall. WHS also fell to NAHS this season.

     This was the final regular season home game at Whiteoak High School for seniors Desiree Green and Sarah Smith.

     WHS will play in the SE District Division IV volleyball tournament on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. when they will host county foe Fairfield. WHS was awarded a No. 3 seed in the tournament. FHS was given a No. 6 seed at 4-10 overall.