Volleyball: Shiloh Christian extends win streak

SPRINGDALE --Reagan Robinson has never lost a conference volleyball match in her high school career.

The Arkansas commit wasn't about to let that streak end Tuesday night. Robinson put down a team-high 12 kills and had 11 digs as Shiloh Christian swept Pea Ridge 3-0 (25-7, 25-5, 25-14) in Champions Gymnasium in 4A-1 Conference play.

The win extended the Lady Saints' conference winning streak to 21 matches in Class 4A, and 35 matches overall counting their last season in Class 5A.

"We just try to stay focused on our goals and in practice we work on drills to try and prepare us for state," Robinson said. "We set goals like trying to hold teams under a certain score and things like that."

Shiloh Christian (10-5, 7-0 4A-1) accomplished that and more Tuesday night. The Lady Saints dominated the first set from the opening serve, jumping to a 17-3 lead en route to the 25-7 win. Game two was more of the same as Shiloh Christian used its stellar front wall of Robinson, Haley Richards and Anna Gookin at the net to cruise to a 20-1 lead before settling for a 25-5 win.

"We have goals for every set," Shiloh Christian coach Nathan Bodenstein said. "We try to stay focused on the little things. With that run in conference, that's great. In practice, my second team has to push my first team every single day. And we have some rough practices sometimes, but it prepares us not to take anyone for granted."

Pea Ridge (3-4) put up a much tougher fight in the third set. The Lady Blackhawks got an excellent service from Madison McGuire, who served four straight points to help give her team the lead at 10-8. Brandi Hager, who had 5 kills in the match, was also strong at the net, rising up to block a Robinson kill early in the set.

Ultimately Shiloh Christian's strength at the net was too much. Allie Pitts, who led the Lady Saints with 21 assists, served five straight points to give Shiloh Christian a 16-11 lead and Gookin, who had 10 kills, powered the Lady Saints to the 25-14 win and a sweep.

"Our front line is very special," Bodenstein said. "Two out of those three are seniors, and Haley started as a sophomore last year and she's one of the best blockers I've ever coached. I think one of the reasons we're so hard to beat is we have six hitters. Our blocking is something I want us to get better at. Our touches are good, but we're not putting enough of them down."

Sports on 09/23/2015

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