MAVS OVERWHELM CABOT IN FOUR

The last thing Southside coach Natalie Throneberry wanted to do was fall behind early in the fourth set of Wednesday’s 6A quarterfinals match at Cabot High School. Especially when the opponent was playing on its home turf. Southside didn’t give away the third set, and that tiny bit of moment might have carried over for a 25-17, 25-16, 19-25, 25-15 victory over the pesky Panthers. “The girls worked on getting a little bit of momentum in that third set, even though we knew it was kind of far out of reach,” Throneberry said. “I think it really carried over to the fourth set and we were able to jump out early.” “I think that was big for us,” said junior Hannah Hogue. “We knew the (third) game was really out of reach, so we wanted to gain some momentum, and that carried over to the fourth set.” Hogue set the tone early with two aces in the fourth game. She finished with 32 assists, often setting outside hitters Avery Fitzgerald, Toree Tiffee and Hayley Hall with one perfect lob after another. The Mavericks (30-5) will play today at 3 p.m. for a berth in Saturday’s 6A championship game in Hot Springs. Beating Cabot (17-13) three times in one season was hard enough, let alone doing so with the Panthers’ overflowing home crowd. “I didn’t feel safe at any point,” Throneberry said. “They’re (Cabot) a great team defensively. They’re not afraid to swing at you when they’re down. The middles had torn us up in recent games, so hat’s off to Cabot.” The Panthers took a quick 2-0 lead in the fourth game, but the Mavericks quickly moved ahead, 9-4. When Cabot closed to within 11-7, back-to-back kills by Aleigha Johnson and Bailey Vega extended the lead to 13-7, and moments later Fitzgerald hammered one for a 14-7 advantage. The Mavericks’ lead eventually swelled to 20-8. Again, after a Panthers’ run brought the fans to their feet, and Cabot to within 21-14, Fitzgerald’s kill, Kelsey Hamilton’s ace, and Hogue’s no-look, over-the-shoulder tip gave the Mavericks a 24-15 cushion. Fitzgerald finished with 11 kills and six aces and six digs. She got some help on the block as well. Johnson and Vega added seven and six kills, respectively. Johnson also had four digs and two blocks. “They were very diligent about talking to each other and letting each other know what was open,” Throneberry said. “They picked on the setter, and once they (Cabot) caught on, then went somewhere else. I’m very proud of that.” Also for the Mavericks, Toree Tiffee finished with eight kills. Hamilton had 10 digs and three aces in the win.

MAVS OVERWHELM CABOT IN FOUR

KEVIN TAYLOR

Times Record | 10/31/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Brian D. Sanderford