(Bonne Terre, MO) The 3-seed Festus Tigers offense comes to life in the Class 4, District 1 Quarterfinal, defeating the 2-seed Farmington Knights in 4 sets, 18-25, 26-24, 27-25, 25-20.
The match featured 24 total ties, the most coming in the first set where the teams swapped points midway through tying at 8-8 through 13-13, then again at 16-16. The Knights used a 10-0 run to build a 7 point lead before taking set 1.
The second set featured 7 ties, with the latest tie at 21-21 as Farmington used a 5-0 rally to get back in the game late. Festus scored 5 of the last 8 to win. The Tigers and Knights had dueling 5 point runs midway through set 2. Festus used their end of the dueling runs to take the lead 14-12. They never trailed after that point.
Set 3 began all Festus as the Tigers jumped to a 10-3 lead, but Farmington countered with a 9-2 run to draw even 12-12. Festus clung to a 4 point lead that was erased by a 5-0 rally by Farmington, giving the Knights a 20-19 lead.
The Tigers fought back quickly scoring 3 of the next 4 points to force Farmington to use a timeout. The Knights regrouped scoring the next two, leading to a Festus timeout with the Knights ahead 23-22. Festus bounced back scoring 5 of 7 closing the set.
The Final set was all Festus through it’s entirety. The Tigers, again, jumped to an 8-2 lead. However, Farmington fought back scoring 7 of the next 10 before a Festus 4-0 run extinguished any momentum Farmington gained.
Festus Head Coach, Stephanie Whitehead, says her team came together after the first set.
Festus’s Gabbi Burkard led all attackers with 21 kills, adding 5 blocks and an ace. Jersey Latham added 15 kills.
Ava Cooper led Farmington hitters with 11 kills. Seniors Emily Bauer, and Brynn Johnson played significant roles for the Knights during their time in the program. Farmington Head Coach, Haley Baker, says the seniors meant everything to the team.
Festus will face top seeded St. Pius in the District Championship tonight in Bonne Terre. Farmington’s season comes to a close with a 20-16 record.
*All Interviews can be found in the AudioVault
