MAVS OUTLAST GHS IN FSI FINALS

Southside and Greenwood could play a best-of-50 when it comes to volleyball. It might take a week, but the winning team likely would have 26 wins and the loser 24. Saturday, it was Southside’s turn. Avery Fitzgerald followed up an amazing day with 12 kills and four aces as the Mavericks rallied in the third set for a 25-17, 23-25, 15-11 victory at Southside Gym. Fitzgerald had 47 kills and 20 aces during the Mavericks’ six wins Saturday. After struggling to a five-set win over Cabot on Thursday, the Mavericks blew away Har-Ber in the semifinals and were on the cusp of doing that against Jennifer Golden’s Greenwood squad. But Golden, her team down 16-8, called a timeout and chewed out her players. They responded with a 25-23 comeback. “When you can battle in a match like that, and you get beat, I’m OK with that,” Golden said. “It’s losing without the fierce mentality.” Greenwood took an early 4-2 lead in the third set, fell behind 6-4, and reeled off four straight points on back-to-back aces by Jocelyn Sewell for an 8-6 advantage. The Mavericks took the lead for good at 10-9, then got an ace from Hayley Hall and kills from Toree Tiffee, Aleigha Johnson and Hannah Hogue for a 14-11 cushion that proven insurmountable for the scrappy, no-quit Lady Bulldogs. “We talked about redemption this week,” Southside coach Natalie Throneberry said. “The Early Bird (Tournament), we had a really rough tournament, and in Springfield we came out strong and fell in the semifinals. Greenwood beat us the last time we played them, and Har-Ber did, too. Both teams are phenomenal. We worked on our mindset and getting in the trenches and learning how to win.” Hannah Wakins led the Lady Bulldogs (19-6) with eight kills. Camryn Presley had seven kills and 13 assists. Izzy Davis had digs for the Lady Bulldogs. Anna Johnson added 10 assists. Hogue finished the match with 31 assists, 10 digs and three kills for the Mavericks (23-5). Bailey Vega had eight kills in the finals and 26 for the day. Tiffee had 39 kills in the six-match sweep and five in the finals. Johnson added seven kills and three blocks in the finals. Kelsey Hamilton contributed seven digs in the finals and 10 aces for the day. The Mavericks travel to North Little Rock on Tuesday. Greenwood hits the road for Little Rock Christian.

MAVS OUTLAST GHS IN FSI FINALS

KEVIN TAYLOR

Times Record | 10/6/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Brian D. Sanderford