Hot Springs lost a pair of heartbreakers to Sheridan Thursday night at Trojan Fieldhouse, going the distance in both the junior varsity and varsity matches before ultimately falling to the Lady Yellowjackets.
The Lady Trojans (4-6, 2-4 5A-South) dropped the varsity match, 3-2, following a 2-1 loss in the junior varsity match.
"I thought the kids played well," said Hot Springs head coach Deana Franklin. "Things just didn't come out the way we wanted. I wouldn't do anything differently."
The Lady Trojans took an early 5-1 lead in the first set, but Sheridan (5-7, 3-3) evened the score before Hot Springs jumped out to a 19-14 lead. Sheridan's Bailee Hall served four straight late in the set to tie it up at 24-24, but the Lady Trojans broke service and held on to take the 26-24 win.
Hot Springs rolled to the early lead in the second set, but Sheridan came back to take a 17-11 lead before senior Jamie Broadway served seven straight to take a 19-17 lead. The Lady Trojans held on to take a 25-22 win in the set to give the team a two-set lead.
The Lady Trojans struggled in the third set as Sheridan took an early 6-3 lead, stretching it to 19-11 before taking the 25-14 win to cut Hot Springs' lead in half.
"In the third set, we got a little lax," Franklin said. "We haven't really learned to finish hard. It was a long game. It was over around 8:15 or 8:30 p.m. The rallies were long, and both teams hit well."
The two teams battled it out in the fourth and fifth sets, but in the end, it was Sheridan who came out ahead, 25-21 and 15-11.
"The kids went after it hard," Franklin said. "They ran over each other to hit the ball. They were diving on the floor. They left it all on the floor."
Sophomore Jurnee Hicks and Broadway led the Lady Trojans' offense with six kills each, senior Xazia McCoy added five kills and Collins had four blocks and four kills. Hicks was also credited with 12 blocks on the night.
"We were blocking machines," Franklin said. "The front line was owning it. I don't like to be on the end we were on, but we played pretty good."
Sophomore defensive specialist Jaylia Reed led the team with 22 digs, junior Iona Island and Broadway added 18 apiece and Katyra Johnson had 17.
"We dug the crap out of the ball," Franklin said. "It was a good match to watch if you didn't care which team won. It was exciting to watch."
Hot Springs will travel to Lakeside (8-1, 5-1) Tuesday to face the Rams in junior high, junior varsity and varsity matches.
* In the junior varsity match, Sheridan jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, but Hot Springs rallied to take an 8-6 edge under Lori Martin's service. Sheridan's Madison Taylor then served 13 straight to give the Lady Yellowjackets a 20-8 lead from which Hot Springs was unable to recover. Sheridan took the set, 25-11.
The Lady Trojans rolled to an early 6-2 lead in the second set, but Sheridan rebounded to take a 13-9 lead. Hot Springs continued to battle however, pulling within 21-18 before Hicks served to knot the score at 24-24.
Sheridan broke service, but the Lady Trojans recovered and Sevannah Lawson served for the final two points of the set for the 27-25 win.
The two teams continued to battle in the third set with Hot Springs taking an 11-9 lead after falling behind 5-2 early, but Sheridan held on to claim the 15-13 win for the match.
AnneMarie Vanoversteeg had three kills and three blocks in the junior varsity match.
Franklin said her usual junior varsity setter has been struggling, so she put Hicks in to keep things moving.
"I had her in as setter during the JV match," she said. "I put her in for some continuity. She was an animal on the front line for us in both games."
Sports on 09/15/2018