FAYETTEVILLE — Siloam Springs volleyball coach Rose Cheek couldn’t recall another game in her Lady Panthers career like the one her team was a part of Thursday.
Unfortunately for Cheek, it’s a game she won’t soon forget.
Fayetteville showed off superior serving, assisting, defense and attacking skills in all three games against the Lady Panthers on Thursday. But it was the second game that stood out the most, as the Lady Bulldogs could do no wrong in scoring 20 unanswered points to start the set to highlight a convincing 25-10, 25-2, 25-13 victory in Bulldog Arena.
“I have never been a part of one like that, and I can assure you I won’t forget it,” Cheek said. “We just couldn’t pass for some reason. I can’t explain it. I kept subbing different kids in trying to get something to change, and nothing seemed to work.
“But I’ll tell you what, I won’t forget that one.”
Fayetteville (21-1, 9-0 7A/6A-West Conference) got six kills from Mikayla Avery to put Siloam Springs away 25-10 in the first game. Then, with libero Andrea Kathol on the serve to start the second game, everything began to go the Lady Bulldogs’ way.
Kathol had three aces, Fayetteville got eight more kills from Avery and the Lady Panthers (5-10, 3-6) helped out with some errors on the return. The result was a 20-0 lead to start Game 2 as the Lady Bulldogs were hitting on all cylinders.
“I’m really pleased with the start to the second half of the conference season. It’s almost like they’ve found a second gear,” Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said. “I’m not even sure they had that in them, and I feel like we’re playing really good volleyball right now.
“Andrea is a great server and having her back there puts a lot of pressure on their serve-receive. And we played good defense behind that as well.”
Avery finished with a team-high 19 kills for Fayetteville, and Kathol added 15 digs to her three aces. Aubrey Edie contributed 35 assists and Hannah Pinter chipped in with 10 kills.
Bailey Cameron led Siloam Springs with five kills and Ashlin Stock added nine assists.
Fayetteville faces St. Joseph’s (Mo.) Academy at Ozark, Mo., on Saturday. The Lady Panthers visit Rogers Heritage on Tuesday.