SILOAM SPRINGS — Siloam Springs left the door open a crack for Magnolia and then promptly slammed it shut.
After handily winning Game 1 of their opening round match of the Class 5A State Tournament on Tuesday, the host team Lady Panthers took a 21-13 lead in Game 2 and seemed on the verge of joining the rest of the winning 5A schools in sweeping their opponent.
Magnolia staged a gutsy rally to win Game 2, but it didn’t faze Siloam Springs, which came back and won games 3 and 4 to take a 3-1 (25-13, 24-26, 25-14, 25-8) victory at the Panther Activity Center.
“We had a pretty good lead in Game 2,” said Siloam Springs coach Rose Cheek, “and you know, it’s the state tournament. I want to try and get in all the kids that I can. I want it to be memorable for all the kids. Sometimes it messes up the chemistry and you have to return to the ones you had.”
Siloam Springs, the third seed out of the 5A-West, did just that in Games 2 and 3 and finished off Magnolia to earn a place in the quarterfinals, where they’ll face 5A-Central No. 1 seed Little Rock Christian today at 7 p.m.
Of Siloam Springs’ 53 total kills, 27 came from sophomores and one freshman.
Senior Makenzie Sharp led Siloam Springs with 20 kills, while Lindsey Larkin had six kills. However, sophomore Ashley Avery recorded nine kills, 20 assists and 15 digs, while sophomore Mariah Poteet had seven kills. Sophomores Lauren Cook and freshman Mirna Torres each had five kills.
Sophomore Ashlin Stock added 14 assists, while sophomore Beth Brankle had 12 digs. Sophomore Bailey Bolinger and senior Lexi Anglin each had seven digs.