Lions bite Saks again
- Updated: October 4, 2017
Both teams make their way through adversity, play a tiebreaker set for the third time this season
By East Alabama Sports Today
Sydnee Johnson, filling in for an ailing teammate, continued her recent spate of strong play with 14 kills and two blocks as Faith Christian beat Saks for the third time this season, this time in five sets.
The Lady Lions won by scores of 25-16, 13-25, 25-23, 22-25, 16-14. All three matches between the teams have gone to a tiebreaker set.
The match pitted the Nos. 5 (Saks) and 6 (Faith) seeds in the upcoming Calhoun County Volleyball Tournament.
“(Saks) was scrambling, we were scrambling, let’s just play this thing,” Faith coach Justin Kisor said. “It was fun. They played hard and we played hard. It was scrappy. It was a fun night.”
Both teams were missing key personnel. Zana Christjohn, Faith’s second leading hitter, didn’t play because of illness and Saks’ Madison Tate turned an ankle in the third set. Both players’ availability for the county tournament are uncertain.
Mirian Ortiz-Rodriguez replaced Tate in the Saks lineup, which had already undergone a shakeup, and moved Keira Burks to libero. Faith was playing with a rotation it hadn’t even practiced.
Still, both teams were able to keep the match competitive.
“It was such a crazy night,” Kisor said. “We played and they played; it was anybody’s ballgame, like it’s been the last two matches. They played well with what they had. Credit (Law) for taking what cards you’re given and working with them.”
Faith (23-6) won the first set handily and opened the second set with a 7-0 run, but Law elected to let his team play through it and the Lady Wildcats rallied to win by an even bigger margin.
The Lady Wildcats’ were trailing 10-8 when Tate turned her ankle. They lost that set 25-23, but won the fourth 25-22 to force the tiebreaker.
Faith jumped out 9-4 and led 14-9, but Saks rallied to tie it at 14-14 before the Lady Lions scored the next two points to win.
“After the first game and the first seven points of the second we played pretty good, especially facing all the adversity we faced,” Law said. “I was driving one of the players home she said to me this is going to make us better; when we get everybody settled down into a position, we’re going to be playing good at the end of the season.”
FAITH CHRISTIAN 3, SAKS 2
(25-16, 13-25, 25-23, 22-25, 16-14)
(Faith Christian statistics)
KILLS – Sarah Kate McVeigh 4, Nicole Frechette 13, Emily Sills 6, Montana Huie 4, Sarah Jessica Christjohn 1, Abby Kazanjian 1, Sydnee Johnson 14.
DIGS – Sarah Kate McVeigh 2, Nicole Frechette 9, Emily Sills 4, Sarah Jessica Christjohn 2, Abby Kazanjian 12, Erin Cheek 2, Sydnee Johnson 1.
ASSISTS – Erin Cheek 37.
BLOCKS – Emily Sills 1, Montana Huie 5, Sarah Jessica Christjohn 2, Sydnee Johnson 2.
ACES – Sarah Kate McVeigh 4, Emily Sills 3, Sarah Jessica Christjohn 1, Erin Cheek 2.
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