By Shelley Ebbrecht (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Fair Grove gave Willard a run for its money, but the Lady Tigers remain undefeated as they picked up the three-set win in Fair Grove Thursday night.
“Hats off to Fair Grove because we have not been put in this type of situation yet this season,” said Willard coach Jamalee Hancock. “But we have a lot of experience and they’re very confident, so even if we come out a little sluggish, they know we can gain that momentum back.”
Fair Grove jumped ahead 5-0 to start off the night, but Willard did get their momentum going and tied it up at eight. The Lady Tigers fought to pick up their own five-point lead 16-21 before ultimately taking the set 25-18.
“For the whole team together, we played as a team and had good chemistry,” said Willard’s Kennedy Atkinson. “For myself, I think the intensity of the fans and everyone around us—the bench especially—really hyped me up and helped me to play better.”
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The second set began much like the first with the Lady Eagles scoring the first five of six points. Willard tied it up again at 15 and the teams would trade points until Fair Grove pulled ahead 22-19. Fair Grove won 25-22, forcing a third set.
The teams played close early in the third before Willard gained a four-point advantage over the Eagles. Fair Grove’s defense stepped up with key saves, but it wasn’t enough to catch the Tigers and Willard took the third set 25-19 to stay perfect on the season.
“I’m not satisfied with just playing close,” said Fair Grove head coach Tonya Peck. “I think we have the ability to take down a team like this. We just have some little mental errors that we have to fix and playing teams like Willard tonight highlights those so I know what we need to work on and the girls are so receptive.”
Emily Terry led the Lady Tigers, now 11-0 on the season, with 10 kills and 2 blocks. Kasey Brower had 10 digs. But it was the performance of Kennedy Atkinson and Daisie Cruse with 6 kills each that pushed Willard over the top.
“Kennedy didn’t make hardly any hitting errors, she was tooling the block and she was getting the kills,” Hancock said. “Her consistency at the net was just huge.”
Alana Findley led the night with 15 kills and 4 blocks for the Lady Eagles thanks in part to 15 assists by Ryah Icenhower. Cydney Fullerton threw down the only aces with 2 and Shyan Proctor had 14 digs.
In an opening stretch of playing with Class 3 and 4 schools, Fair Grove coach Tonya Peck said she is pleased with her team’s level of competition and feels they are ready to take on schools in their own field. The Lady Eagles are 7-3-2 and will play in the Ash Grove tournament Saturday before playing Springfield Catholic on the road Tuesday.
