Lady Cats take down Paris in straight sets
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The Sulphur Springs Lady Cats hosted Paris Tuesday, for a big district matchup. Entering the match with a 3-2 district record, Sulphur Springs had a chance to put an extra game between them and Paris in the district standings, and put themselves just one game back from the top spot.
The first match opened with both teams keeping things close, and neither team allowing the other to get much of an advantage. It wasn’t until the back end of the set until Paris began to pull away a bit, putting themselves in a good position to win.
With their backs against the wall, Sulphur Springs trailed 24-21, looking like they might drop the first set. Briley Vice was in to do the serving, with no room for error. Vice and the Lady Cats did a great job, chipping their way back into it one point at a time.
Sulphur Springs went on to take six of the next seven points, winning the set 27-25. It was an ace from Vice at 24-24 that gave the Lady Cats, they also got a block from junior Mary Taylor to put it away and secure the set for Sulphur Springs.
With momentum on their side, Sulphur Springs opened the second set on a very strong note. Getting out to a quick 6-1 lead, Paris used their first timeout to slow things down and to regroup.
While the timeout did slow the Lady Cats’ down just a tiny bit, they would soon find their rhythm again, quickly extending their lead to double-digits. They led by as much as 19-7, before sophomore Kyra Carter put things away with a strong performance to end the set. Picking up a pair of kills along the way, Sulphur Springs went on to take the second set 25-11.
Looking to avoid being put away in straight sets, Paris got out to a quick start in the third set, getting out to a 5-1 lead. Sulphur Springs didn’t panic, however, scoring five consecutive points to gain the lead back at 6-5.
The Lady Cats continued to play strong, extending the lead to 14-9 on a kill from sophomore Aaliyah Cheatum.
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The Lady Cats would build their lead as high as 18-10, before Paris put together a seven-point run to make it a one-point game. Sulphur Springs remained a calm, and a huge block from sophomore Trinity Jefferson to swing the momentum back in their direction.
Senior Addisyn Wall followed with back-to-back kills of her own, putting Sulphur Springs ahead 22-17. Paris did fight back and got things as close as 24-20, but senior Laney Hurst was able to put the game away with an ace, securing the straight set victory for the Lady Cats.
Offensively, the Lady Cats were led by a pair of underclassmen in freshman Rainey Johnson and sophomore Aaliyah Cheatum. The two combined for 15 of the teams 31 kills, as Wall was right behind them with six kills of her own.
They were set up, as always, by sophomore Trinity Jefferson who had an impressive 26-assist outing. Jefferson also had a team-high five blocks, as well as one kill of her own.
Senior Kinley Friddle and freshman Addy Fenton led the way with eight digs a piece, showing great defensive efforts. Just behind them were Hurst, Jefferson and senior Mali Maeker who each had five digs, while Wall had four digs.
The trio of Hurst, Maeker and Vice led the way in serving, combining for 10 aces between the three of them. Friddle also had two digs, as Sulphur Springs had 12 aces as a team.
The win was a huge one for the Lady Cats, improving their district record to 4-2. A loss would have dropped them to 3-3, which would’ve also made Paris 3-3, tying them for third place.
Now Sulphur Springs sits just one game behind North Lamar and Pleasant Grove who are each 5-1 and tied for first place. The Lady Cats will look to make it three consecutive wins Friday, as they host Liberty-Eylau.
The last time the two teams played Sulphur Springs had the upper hand, winning the game 3-1. Stay tuned to Front Porch News for coverage of the game.
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