Green Forest dominates Eureka Springs

After the junior varsity squad posted 25-8 and 25-16 wins, the Lady Tigers stifled the Lady Highlanders 25-8, 25-6 and 25-9 in varsity action.

Green Forest coach Trista Killingsworth was pleased with the win but said the Lady Tigers need to continue to improve on certain aspects of the game to maintain the tradition of the program.

"We need to do a better job of passing," Killingsworth said. "We are struggling on passing pretty big. If you can't pass you can't get sets and kills. Our serving was better tonight. Last week we struggled with our serves. We have been working on passing and serving. With that will come sets and hits. So, we need to improve."

Green Forest improved to 3-2 overall and 3-1 in Conference 1 West-3A while Eureka Springs dropped to 0-2 overall and in the conference.

"It's a building year," first-year Eureka Springs coach Carrie Gay said. "I have four girls that have never touched a volleyball until this year. I have one girl, Haley (Comstock), this is her third year. And this is Jenna's (Descoteaux) second year. Other than those two were are very inexperienced."

Green Forest exploited the porous Lady Highlander defense as Keylen Bell scored 21 points off serve during the match, nearly doubling her normal output.

"She is a strong server for such a tiny kid," Killingsworth said of the junior. "She's been working on the target serve. She will normally get 10 or so points in a match. But that was a lot tonight."

Bell also tallied five assists while junior Anna Black and sophomore Payton Watson added three kills each.

"They found our weaknesses," Gay said. "They found our holes when they were serving. They are an experienced team and they didn't beat themselves. We got down on ourselves and couldn't pull ourselves out."

While Gay and the Lady Highlanders are experiencing growing pains, Killingsworth is throwing the Lady Tigers into the heat of battle this weekend in the SlamFest Tournament in Harrison. Green Forest opens play on Saturday against Mountain Home, a perennial power in Class 6A.

"We are looking forward to this tournament," Killingsworth said. "We are going to see if we have gotten better. You can't get better unless you play better competition."

Gay said she is trying to build the same tradition at Eureka Springs and uses games against quality teams like Green Forest as a measuring tool.

"Green Forest is always a powerhouse. It's always a little intimidating coming in here but our girls did well. We are going to get better. Everything gets better with practice."