ROGERS -- Rogers High volleyball coach Jeana Breedlove did a little scrambling after the third set of the Lady Mounties match against Springdale High in the 7A-West conference opener Thursday night in King Arena.
Rogers took the first two sets in dominating fashion but the Lady Bulldogs returned the favor in the third set with a 25-15 victory. Breedlove knew the Lady Mounties needed a spark after the setback.
How They Scored
Rogers High 3
Springdale High 1
Springdale^17^16^25^15
Rogers^25^25^15^25
"We ran out of juice," Breedlove said. "We ran out of energy. So, in between games I had to run and get some Gatorade Energy chews to get their juices following again. They literally ran out of energy in that third set."
The Gatorade did the trick for Rogers. The Lady Mounties jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the fourth set en route to a 3-1 (25-17, 25-16, 15-25, 25-15) victory over the Lady Bulldogs.
"I told them after the third that they had lost focus," Breedlove said. "I told them they needed to get their mental game back. It is nice to start conference with a win. We have high hopes this year, and this is just one step towards our goal."
Samantha Lassiter had a career high 20 kills for the Lady Mounties and the junior provided key points throughout the match. Lassiter had kills in the first and second sets to help stop Lady Bulldogs rallies and she then had back-to-back kills in the fourth set to give Rogers a 10-5 lead as the Lady Mounties (4-0, 1-0 7A-West) never looked back.
"Samantha has really blossomed and she is really coming into her own for us this year," Breedlove said. "She is a go-to girl."
Lassiter said she had a lot of help from her teammates in the conference opener. Hannah Lloyd finished the match with 30 sets.
"This is definitely going to help my confidence," Lassiter said. "I have a really good setter-hitter bond with Hannah and that helps. Kimi Davis and Audrey Kelley are really good about talking to me, telling me where to hit, from the back row."
Davis finished with 23 digs while Shannon Orlopp had 10 kills. Emily Sherrill had four kills and five blocks. All three players are seniors.
"The seniors are doing a great job of leading this team," Breedlove said. "We have six seniors out there at certain times and they are all doing a good job of keeping everybody pumped up. They are being good leaders on the floor. They are doing what seniors should do, and that is taking care of the ball."
Springdale (2-2, 0-1) junior Ryann Goodsell keyed the Lady Bulldogs charge in the third set with three blocks and three kills. Junior Desiree Mack had 14 kills for Springdale.
Sports on 09/05/2014