Box Score FORT SMITH, Ark. (September 18, 2014) –Lubbock Christian was ambushed early on by Arkansas-Fort Smith, allowing large Lady Lion runs to give the Lady Chaps their first defeat on the season, losing the matchup of the top two teams in the Heartland Conference by scores of 11-25, 25-19, 12-25 and 15-25 Thursday night at the Stubblefield Center.
Playing in their first home match of the season, the Lady Lions (10-3, 4-0 Heartland) made quite a statement by jumping out to a 7-0 lead which involved two service aces by Katarina Krstonosic coupled with four Lady Chap attack errors. A solo block by
Amy Edwards gave LCU (5-1, 4-1 Heartland) its first point on the evening, but the lead for UAFS continued to swell, growing to 14-7, and was shadowed by another 7-0 Lady Lion run for a 21-7 UAFS lead. The Lady Chaps were unable to gain much ground, eventually falling 25-11. In the first set alone, LCU committed nine attack errors, three receiving errors and a pair of service errors.
The Lady Chaps were able to regroup for set two, beginning with a kill and solo block from Edwards, while a
Maddie Johnson kill gave LCU its first lead of the match at 3-2. A kill and two blocks by the Lady Lions' 6-2 middle blocker, Jessica Anderson, pushed UAFS ahead 5-3, but a trio of Johnson kills, an ace by
Malori Maddox and an emphatic kill by setter
Erin Fisher helped LCU regain the lead at 8-7. A block by Johnson and
Ariel Froeschl on Anderson provided momentum for LCU, forcing UAFS to call a timeout with the Lady Chaps leading 15-12. With LCU leading 20-17, the Lady Lions again called time. Fisher committed a service error on the next play, and the Lady Lions followed suit with a service mishap of their own for a 22-18 Lubbock Christian advantage.
Channing Castleberry continued the trend by sailing her serve wide to inch UAFS closer at 22-19 before Fort Smith's setter, Bailey Katzfey, committed a net violation for a Lady Chap point. Kills by Froeschl and Johnson closed the game and tied the match at 1-1.
The final two sets played out much like the first, with the Lady Lions stringing together long runs, including 14 unanswered points in the third game that turned a 7-6 LCU lead into a 20-7 UAFS advantage and became a 25-12 Lady Lion win. In the fourth set, Fort Smith again came out strong, leading 5-0. A block and kill by Payton Hamilton of UAFS put her team up 18-6, and the Lady Chaps were unable to recover, dropping the game and the match.
For LCU, Johnson had a team-high 10 kills, and
Christa Daniel tallied 25 digs.
Arkansas-Fort Smith's Anderson totaled game-highs with 15 kills and five blocks.
The Lady Chaps have a quick turnaround, traveling to Arkansas Tech tomorrow for a 1 p.m. matchup in Russelville, Ark., for the non-conference contest.
