Above: Makayla Rowley hits a serve over the net during a non-conference volleyball match against Martin County West in Trimont.
TRIMONT – The Fairmont Cardinals fell to 0-2 on the season thanks to a late comeback from the Martin County West Mavericks in a non-conference volleyball match on Tuesday night.
The Mavericks won 25-20, 26-28, 23-25, 25-14, 15-5 at Trimont Elementary School.
The Cardinals started slow in the first set, falling behind as the Mavericks jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. Fairmont was never able to build on the lead, never getting closer than 17-14 in the first set before the Mavericks closed it out.
Fairmont led 14-11 in the second set, prompting an MCW timeout. The Mavericks tied it at 20-20 late on a kill from Emily Anderson, then led 21-20 with a kill from Janna Chase on the back row. The Cardinals scored the next four points to take a 24-21 lead, but the Mavericks hung in there and held on for the second set long enough for the Cardinals to end it with a kill from Briley Miller.
The Cardinals never let their lead get bigger than five points, but they took the third set on another kill from Miller.
The Mavericks turned the tide in the fourth set, jumping out to an early 10-3 lead and forcing Fairmont to call a timeout. The Mavericks took a 15-4 lead midway through the fourth on a kill from Maddie Carlson. The Mavericks extended their lead to 20-7 on a block from Chase, forcing another Fairmont timeout.
Fairmont went on the offensive out of the timeout, but an offensive error by the Mavericks ended the set.
MCW continued its momentum in the fifth set, scoring with a double block in the middle to force a Fairmont timeout and take a 9-3 lead. The Mavericks won the final six points of the set to win the battle of five sets, capping off the night with an ace serve from Camryn Crowe.
Fairmont was led by Briley Miller with 16 kills and 28 digs, while Jaydyn Montgomery had seven kills, six solo blocks and two block assists. Meredith Nemmers also had six kills and one solo block for Fairmont, while Ellie Ortega had five kills, eight digs and one solo block. Leslie Zahling had six aces, 26 set assists, 16 digs and one solo block. Makayla Rowley had two kills, four digs, eight set assists and two solo blocks.
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