(Potosi, MO) The Farmington Knights use strong defensive plays in the final two sets to pull out a five set victory over the Potosi Lady Trojans, 25-19, 19-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-10. Cheyenne Strohkirch led the Knights with 19 digs, and Emily Bauer followed with 17 digs. Bauer also led the team with 32 assists.
Farmington Head Coach, Haley Baker, says the defense was the key to coming back from a two sets to one deficit.
Potosi opened the first set with a 5-1 spurt that was quickly answered by a brief 3-0 run by Farmington. However Potosi would retain the lead until ties at 17-17, 18-18, and 19-19. The Knights shutdown the Potosi offense with a 7-0 rally of their own to end the first set.
Set 2 ended in the same score, 25-19, but the Lady Trojans were victorious. The set began with a lopsided 12-4 Lady Trojan lead that forced Baker and the Knights to call a timeout. Midway through the second set, Farmington used a 10-2 run to get within a point at 18-17, but Potosi prevailed.
The third set featured a single tie at 4-4. Potosi’s Ava Robart, along with lone senior, Paige West propelled their Lady Trojans to a Set 3 win after Farmington had, once again, cut the differential to a point at 14-13, then again two points later 15-14.
Something changed in the set break as Farmington came to life in the fourth set using a 4-0 run to expand their lead to 13-7, after back and forth scoring by both sides to begin the set. The Knights extended an 18-13 lead with a 5-0 rally, extinguishing any chance Potosi had to win the match in 4 sets.
Farmington began the fifth set with a lead, but Ava Robart willed her team to a tie 4-4, before Potosi took over by a single point. That’s when Farmington stepped on the gas against a seemingly exhausted Lady Trojan team that needed five sets two nights prior dealing a blow to the Fredericktown Blackcats in Potosi’s second game in as many nights. On Monday, the Lady Trojans fell to Valle Catholic in four sets.
Potosi could no longer keep pace with Farmington after a 4-0 run by the Knights. During the extended volleys in the final set, Farmington’s defense stood strong against several attempted attacks from Ava Robart, West, and the Potosi Lady Trojans offense.
What changed between third and fourth sets for Farmington? Haley Baker thinks it may have been her team’s determination to keep pressuring with several offensive attacks.
Farmington’s Ava Cooper paced the Knights Offense with 16 kills, Madison Mills knocked down 12 tallies, Cheyenne Strohkirch compiled 11 kills, and Zoey Gerwitz collected 10.
Ava Robart continued her stellar season on Thursday leading all attackers with 36 kills, unofficially. Robart added 5 aces as well. Paige West joined in the effort with 13 kills, and Eden Robart added 7 kills.
Potosi Head Coach, Ashley Matthews, was complimentary of her team in an interview with KFMO Sports after Thursday’s loss.
Farmington is 15-11, and 2-1 in conference play with the win, they’ll travel to Jackson on Monday, then host the conference leading Central Lady Rebels on Tuesday in a broadcast game on KFMO. Potosi falls to 14-4-1, and 2-1 in the MAAA Large School Conference. The Lady Trojans host DeSoto on Monday, then travel to Ste. Genevieve on Tuesday.
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Other Volleyball scores from Thursday:
MAAA Conference Standings (click here)
Central def. Fredericktown 19-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-17
Ste. Genevieve def. North County 19-25, 25-13, 25-14, 25-16
Bismarck def. Kingston 25-7, 25-8, 25-19
Arcadia Valley def. Valley Caledonia 25-21, 27-25, 25-10
Valle Catholic def. West County 25-5, 25-8, 25-13
St. Paul def. Marquand 25-21, 25-23, 21-25, 23-25, 15-10
*All interviews can be found in the AudioVault