ALMA — Shiloh Christian volleyball coach Shyrah Schisler told Reagan Robinson the ball was coming to her during a timeout late in the fifth set of the Lady Saints’ match against Greene County Tech on Tuesday.
The sophomore outside hitter didn’t shy away from the pressure in her state tournament debut.
“I was just going to hit it as hard as I could,” Robinson said. “I just wanted a win.”
Robinson closed the match with authoritative kills on the fi nal two points as top-seeded Shiloh Christian rallied for a thrilling five-set win and a 3-2 (25-10, 11-25, 25-21, 17-25, 16-14) victory in the first round of the Class 5A State Tournament.
Robinson finished with a career-high 26 kills to help lead the Lady Saints (25-6-1) to the win over the East’s No. 4 seed, which eliminated Shiloh Christian in the second round of the state tournament last year.
“All my sophomores were a little nervous there,” Schisler said. “We talked about that being nervous was going to have to pass. We told her we were giving her the ball and she wanted it. She was aggressive.”
The Lady Saints came back after losing game four and trailing 10-7 in the deciding fi fth set. Schisler called timeout with her team facing an 8-6 defi cit in game five, a position Shiloh Christian wasn’t accustomed to being in after losing just one set in an undefeated 5A-West Conference title run.
“I just said, ‘Hey, we don’t have a losing attitude, we have a winning attitude. Play hard. We’ve prepared ourselves all year,’” Schisler said. “When Celestene (Sebag) went back to serve, we said, ‘This is what you live for.’ She’s a great server. She took it and did a great job.”
Shiloh Christian tied the game at 12 and then took the lead for good on a block by seniors Brittany Butler and Lauren Brown.
“That block by Brittany and Lauren changed our tone,” Schisler said. “We were playing from behind the whole time. And once we got that block, our energy just shifted.”
Butler also finished with five solo blocks. Brown had 44 assists.
Shiloh Christian looked like it was set to cruise to the win after a 25-10 victory in game one. But Greene County Tech responded, winning game two 25-11 to knot the match.
Shiloh scored the fi nal three points of the 25-21 game-three win, but Greene County Tech fought back, breaking open a 17-all tie for a 25-17 win in the fourth set to knot the match and seize momentum.
Juniors Chandler Browning and Josie Fletcher each had a team-high 16 kills for the Lady Eagles.
The Lady Saints will face a stiff challenge in the quarterfinals today at 4 p.m. against Central No. 2 seed Little Rock Christian, which swept past Camden Fairview 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 26-24) in the fi rst round Tuesday.
“They’re a very solid team,” Schisler said. “They have tradition. We’re still young and building tradition. That is something that’s really key for us is just overcoming that second round, persevering forward and just playing our kind of volleyball.”