Lincoln Overtakes Gentry In Fifth Set

Lady Wolves Break Tie With Final Five Points

Photo by Randy Moll Hannah Boss, Gentry junior, receives a Lincoln serve on Thursday, while Bailee Pollard, Gentry sophomore, stands by.
Photo by Randy Moll Hannah Boss, Gentry junior, receives a Lincoln serve on Thursday, while Bailee Pollard, Gentry sophomore, stands by.

GENTRY -- The match came down to the final 10 points of game-four and final five points of game-five as Lincoln bested Gentry, 3-2, in volleyball action Thursday.

Gentry coach Greg Johnson lamented five-straight hitting errors that did in the Lady Pioneers in the fifth set.

"Basically at the end of the game, we didn't make volleyball plays," Johnson said. "It was 10-10, and on the last five points we didn't hit the ball. The plays we lost on weren't hard plays; they were plays that should have been made."

Lincoln's coach, Stephanie Howard, was pleased with how her team staved off elimination, managing to stay alive although Gentry twice served for match-point in the fourth set.

"I'm very proud of how we fought today," Howard said. "We haven't always fought, but they really fought back to win today."

Lincoln opened the match with a 25-15 win in the first set. Gentry won games two (28-26) and three (25-16) with opportunity to end the match in four games. The Lady Pioneers, who had picked up their offense behind the setting of sophomore Madison Ward and the hitting of 5-feet-10 junior middle-blocker Hannah Boss and the blocking of junior Chaz Fuamatu, twice served for match-point in the fourth set, leading 24-22 and 27-26, but couldn't come up with the close-out point either time.

Howard called time-out for Lincoln with Gentry ahead, 23-21. During the time-out, Howard was talking to her back-row, whom she had been yelling at throughout the match.

"I just told them to stay on their toes," Howard said. "The back-row has got to be aggressive. They came back and dug those hits out; that's what we needed."

Sophomore Jessica Goldman is among the Lady Wolves' tallest players at 5-feet-9. Goldman said the team told one another during the stoppage of play to pick it up.

"As a team, we helped each other out," Goldman said.

Senior Kendra Cummings agreed the time-out helped.

"We just had to pick up our intensity," Cummings said.

Pick up their game, the Lady Wolves did, battling for each point, with their hustle creating opportunities. A long hit followed by a dig going into the net gave Lincoln the next two points and tied the game at 24-24. Boss then slid across the line separating the teams after falling to the floor while scrambling to fight off a Lincoln hit. Now leading, 25-24, Lincoln served for game-point but Gentry earned another tie, this one of a 25-25 score, on senior Audra Weathers' kill just inside the left sideline. A Gentry net serve put the Lady Wolves ahead again, at 26-25, but Boss aimed a kill to the side away from Lincoln's defense to draw the Lady Pioneers even at 26-26.

The next point was awarded to Gentry when a Lincoln front-line player was whistled for brushing the net with her wrist. Trailing 27-26, Lincoln's Sydney Brewer saved the day for the Lady Wolves with a heroic tip that went back over. Brewer's play instantly turned into offense as Gentry was unprepared for the one-hit return and became a kill, knotting the score again at 27-all. Libby Calico then served up back-to-back aces to push Lincoln to victory, 29-27, with two Gentry Pioneers crashing into each other on the back-row on the final point.

In the fifth set, Gentry led 9-7. The Lady Pioneers set up their offense with Boss (dig), Ward (set), and Fuamatu (hit), only to be thwarted by a Brewer block for Lincoln. The play was crucial with Lincoln's Lexington Dobbs following up with a kill to even the score, at 9-all. Gentry fell behind 10-9 when confusion on the back-row resulted in no second hit when both players aiming for a dig collided. Johnson called time-out and the Lady Pioneers drew even at 10-10 on (#16 Kelton's) kill.

Gentry's offense self-destructed from that point. The Lady Pioneers didn't clear the net on two of the next five points. A third hit went straight up followed by a hitting error and miscommunication resulting in no second hit. Another Gentry hit went long, bringing Lincoln to match-point at 14-10. Cummings served for Lincoln and a long volley ensued. Just as Gentry appeared to be setting up their offense, the hit traveled beyond the back line and out-of-bounds, ending the game, with Lincoln winning, 15-10, and taking the match three games to two.

Earlier in the week, Shiloh Christian posted a 3-0 sweep of Lincoln Sept. 13, winning by scores of 25-9, 25-5, and 25-15. Lincoln is now 2-4 on the season.

Gentry lost to Prairie Grove on Sept. 13 by a score of 3-0. Set scores were 25-9, 25-16 and 25-10.

Gentry was 2-6 overall and 1-5 in conference after Thursday's loss to Lincoln.

Sports on 09/21/2016