LINCOLN -- A restructured Lincoln volleyball squad defeated Decatur, 25-12, 25-15, 25-18, in three straight sets Thursday, Sept. 28, at home.
"We're always playing bigger schools; that makes for a long season," said Decatur coach Jessica Stagna. "It's hard. The 3A ones are tough, Elkins has a really good team this year, and the 4A schools are tough."
"These girls have so much heart it doesn't get them down. They still play. They don't know they're small. Don't tell them. We have a good time."
According to the Arkansas Activities Association classification numbers for 2018-2020, Decatur is ranked No. 223 in size among student enrollment for Arkansas high schools. Yet, the Class 2A Lady Bulldogs have been lumped in a blended league for regular season competition against the likes of 4A-1 schools Gentry, Gravette, Lincoln, Prairie Grove, Shiloh Christian and West Fork.
The day before their match at Lincoln, the Lady Bulldogs won their first set against a 4A school by beating Gentry, 25-18, in the second set of a four-set (15-25, 25-18, 18-25, 16-25) loss. The fiesty Lady Bulldogs stayed with Lincoln early in game one. Talor Thompson, a 5-9 middle blocker/outside hitter, pounded a pair of kills sandwiched around Jesse Mathline's kill and Decatur took a 6-4 lead.
"Talor Thompson is a great athlete, she's a lot of fun," Stagna said. "She's graduating earlier. She makes big plays at the net for us. We're going to miss her next year. She's super smart, very sharp. She has a lot of things going for her."
Then Lincoln got on a roll with an 8-0 run. Averi Massey's dig went over the net, surprising Decatur and getting a side-out for the Lady Wolves. Hollie Webb added a kill, then Jessica Goldman served a trio of aces to put Lincoln ahead, 9-6. Stagna took a timeout, but the Lady Bulldogs surrendered two more points on hitting errors and Goldman capped the streak with another ace.
Hollie Webb contributed an ace, and Madison Jones made back-to-back blocks, with the second becoming a kill as Lincoln took control with an 18-9 lead. Goldman and Desi Meek traded kills, but Lincoln finished with a 7-3 run. Hollie Webb played a second hit over finding an empty left corner, Jones had an ace and Goldman smacked a hard kill. A double hit by Decatur brought Lincoln to game-point and the Lady Wolves took game one on a Decatur hitting error, 25-12.
Game two was almost a replay of the first set. Thompson played a hit from the back-row, catching the right corner, then added another back-row kill as Decatur evened the score at 4-4. Again Lincoln was able to get separation with a 7-1 run.
Allison Cunningham kick-started the spree with a kill. She had a block that caused problems, leading to another Lincoln point, and finished the offense combining with Tana Chapman (dig) and Hollie Webb (set) to record a kill. Hollie Webb served up consecutive aces, and Decatur hit the ball off the overhead scoreboard for the second time in the game.
Destiny Mejia's kill broke Lincoln's run and Decatur pulled to within 12-10, only to watch as Lincoln fashioned a 13-5 run to finish. Jones had a block-kill, then recorded a kill from Goldman's set. Cunningham and Hollie Webb scored kills, prompting a Decatur timeout with the Lady Bulldogs trailing, 21-14. When play resumed, Goldman served an ace off the net before Thompson got a side-out for Decatur with a back-row kill.
Game-point was reached when Hollie Webb's ace made the score 24-15. Lincoln won, 25-15, when Decatur couldn't get the ball over after hitting into the net.
Facing elimination, the Lady Bulldogs led 10-9 in the third set. Amber Britton (dig), Libby Calico (set) and Cunningham (kill) worked the offense for Lincoln bringing up the sixth tie of the game. The set would be tied three more times before Lincoln distanced itself, thanks to six straight errors by the Lady Bulldogs.
Coming out of a timeout, Goldman's back-to-back kills extended Lincoln's lead to 21-13. Thompson had two kills down the stretch, but Lincoln never allowed the Lady Bulldogs to get back in the match and won, 25-18, on a violation.
First-year Lincoln coach Lauren Merrick-Creed restructured her squad days prior to the match and was pleased with the outcome.
"We got more of the team involved," Merrick-Creed said. "We changed the team dynamic to get them to all come together and work together. They were able to adjust to whoever was beside them."
Sports on 10/11/2017