MHS shows improvement in volleyball loss

By Kevin Black
UCA sportswriting

Mayflower—Mayflower’s Lady Eagles lost a three-game volleyball match to Little Rock Episcopal Collegiate on Tuesday, 25-20, 25-16,25-16.

Mayflower coach Traci Berry said the Lady Eagles got off to a much better start in the match compared to previous ones.

“They are a tough team, I mean they are good, and we got up early and we just couldn’t seem to keep it up,” Berry said.

Episcopal has been a regular in the Class 3A State Tournament in recent years.

In Game 1, a late surge by the Lady Eagles helped tie the game for the first time at 18-18 before a series of four kills in five plays propelled the Wildcats to a 25-20 victory. Senior Melissa Winter had four kills in the game for the Wildcats.

In Game 2, Mayflower never led or tied after a 3-0 start by the Wildcats thanks to Winter’s two kills in the first three points.
Mayflower’s five kills and one block in the game were not enough to beat the Wildcats, whose 12 kills in the game led them to the 25-16 victory.

“We’ve got to get bigger at the net, especially against a team like Episcopal," Berry said. "I mean, they are going to hit the ball. They are not going to send too many free balls back over the net. We’ve got to get bigger at the net. We’ve got to get better with our blocking. Our timing is off, but that’s something we can work on.”

In Game 3, the Lady Eagles went down 5-0 on Nicole Soulsby’s service but battled back to tie the game at 11-11 with kills by Whitney Whillock, Hannah Fulmer, Summer Hoggard and a block by Halee Hensley.

Mayflower then took the lead on the next point when Hensley cleared the net to block a kill attempt. The Lady Eagles’ Taylor Gregory rolled her right ankle on a block attempt and had to leave the game. She was replaced by Lisa Young.

Gregory said her injury was unfortunate and that she hoped to return soon.

“ I jumped up to get the ball, and when I jumped up to get it and try to get it in to the rest of the team, I landed on somebody else’s foot that was under the net and twisted my ankle,” Gregory said.

With the game tied at 15-15, Winter recorded three consecutive kills for the Lady Wildcats, propelling them ahead of the Lady Eagles, but Episcopal gave it right back with four consecutive return errors later that tied the game at 21-21.

Winter had a kill, and senior Meghan Miros served back-to-back aces that were followed by a return error by the Lady Eagles that gave Episcopal the match.

“Our intensity starting out was really good, but then towards the middle I think we got a little bit discouraged about some of the points,” Gregory said. “Something that we could have been working on was probably our talking a little more and getting our coverage ready, because it’s a very high reaction sport.”

Mayflower fell to 0-2 in 3A-South conference play, with losses to Episcopal and Fountain Lake on the season.

Berry said the team showed some form tonight and that she liked the strong play of her team early in the match.

“We’re showing some improvement, normally we don’t get up that early, normally we don’t start that early, so that’s something different — a good thing,” Berry said.