The Salem Lady Greyhounds emerged victorious in a tightly contested volleyball match against the Flippin Lady Bobcats on Thursday night, taking the win 3-2 on their home court. After Flippin claimed the third set 25-21, the Lady Greyhounds rallied to force a tie in the fourth set, winning 25-20.
In the deciding fifth set, Flippin began with a 2-0 lead, but Salem quickly turned the momentum following a kill by Jailyn Strong, pushing them ahead 4-2. Strong continued to dominate, contributing two consecutive kills for a 6-4 Salem lead. Despite a few missteps that allowed Flippin to narrow the deficit to 7-6, Salem capitalized on errors from their opponents. Strong served an ace to extend the lead, and Flippin's back-to-back net serves widened the gap to 11-6. Strong added another ace, and two misplays by Flippin culminated in Reece Nelson’s match-ending kill for a decisive 15-6 victory in the final set.
In other volleyball action Thursday, the Yellville-Summit Lady Panthers fell in straight sets to Melbourne on the road. Melbourne claimed the match with set scores of 25-22, 25-18, and 25-13. Despite the loss, Yellville-Summit had key contributions in the first set from Khloe Gates, Greysen Dearmore, and True Layton to keep it competitive.
Meanwhile, in Brockwell, the Izard County Lady Cougars made quick work of Alpena, sweeping the match in three sets with scores of 25-10, 25-9, and 25-8. Kallie Skidmore sealed the first set with an ace serve, followed by Willa Everett closing out the second set with another ace. Izard County completed the sweep when Emily Barnes volleyed the ball over the net, resulting in an Alpena misplay that ended the third set.