Tigers beat Indians to shake up conference race

Fred T. Foard High shook up the Northwestern 3A-4A girls’ volleyball race on Tuesday by knocking St. Stephens out of first place.

Visiting Fred T. Foard won 26-24 and 25-20 for a two-game lead, then wrapped it up with a 26-24 victory after the Indians had won the third game 25-20.

The Tigers’ victory dropped St. Stephens out of a first-place tie with Watauga after the Pioneers won 3-1 at South Caldwell on Tuesday.

Fred T. Foard (10-4, 4-1) is in second place, a half-game back of Watauga (4-0) and a half-game ahead of St. Stephens (3-1).

The league race will reach its halfway point on Tuesday, and Fred T. Foard -- which lost its conference opener 3-0 at Watauga -- gets a rematch with Watauga on Sept. 29 at Foard.

On Tuesday, each game at St. Stephens was tightly contested. The win showed Tigers head coach Allison Yount the mettle her team has.

“We've been working on mental toughness and coming back from a deficit,” said Yount. “They (her players) did a really good job coming back from that loss in the third set.

“Mentally they showed they were tougher than I thought they were.”

Chelsea Turner had 12 kills and Madison Haynes had 10 for the Tigers, who also got 17 assists from Rebecca Scott and 15 from Zoe Fox.

Fred T. Foard out-blocked and out-hit the Indians throughout the match and the Tigers were aided most by libero Kaitlin Sigmon, who finished with 31 digs.

“Passing was a key,” said Yount. “(Sigmon) is an excellent passer. She covered the entire back row a lot of times.”

Fred T. Foard rallied at the end of the first game to take an early advantage. The Tigers scored three points for a late 22-21 lead, and the teams traded side-outs until Fred T. Foard won 26-24.

Like in the first game, Fred T. Foard then blazed to an early lead, and St. Stephens mounted a comeback before the Tigers wrapped things up.

Tied at 8, Sigmon took the ball to serve and put together 10 points for the Tigers. During the run, St. Stephens struggled to build an attack – with errors on three attacks and a misplayed set – and Sigmon had two aces in a 25-20 victory.

Even when they did not fully block a ball, the Tigers were able to redirect St. Stephens’ attacks.

“A lot of these girls play together on travels teams and they play with our girls,” said St. Stephens head coach Denise Mullins. “So some of it is not a mystery of how our girls are going to hit.”

After falling behind early, St. Stephens put its act together and forced a fourth game.

The Indians rallied for five points thanks to the serves of senior Abby Foster. Outside hitter Jenna Boliek deftly rolled an attack just inside the baseline but also used her power to slice a cross-court kill around the potent Fred T. Foard blockers.

St. Stephens senior Nicole Hardy ended the third game with a kill off a block and the Indians won 25-20.

The fourth game was almost identical as the first, going back and forth.

St. Stephens was more assertive on the defensive end, blocking several Fred T. Foard shots, but the Tigers were able to dig more balls and turn them into points.

Tough serves forced poor passes from St. Stephens on four straight points, and the Tigers regained the lead at 12-11. Four straight kills from Fred T. Foard increased the lead to 16-13.

St. Stephens regained the lead with a late push behind Hardy, who led a four-point rally on her serve. She was also a key in slowing the high-powered attacks by Fred T. Foard in the block.

The final game was pushed into extra points and the Tigers won when Hardy’s hit was blocked by Fred T. Foard.

St. Stephens plays again Thursday, going to Hickory for a 6 p.m. league match, and then the Indians get a shot at Watauga. That match is Tuesday at St. Stephens at 6 p.m. and will be the halfway point of the conference schedule.

After that, the Indians have key matches at Fred T. Foard on Oct. 13 and play Watauga in Boone on Oct. 19, the final day of the regular season in the Northwestern 3A-4A.