Pep talk sparks fire in L-E: Gentry's 14 points lead Leopards over Ashdown

Liberty-Eylau brought out the brooms on Monday.

The Lady Leopards swept Ashdown, 25-21, 25-2, 27-25, in a varsity volleyball match at the Rader Dome.

Momentum carried the Leopards through the first two sets until Liberty-Eylau head coach LaTasha Harris called a timeout with her girls down 10-4 in the third.

"I just asked the girls if they wanted to win, and they said yes," Harris said. "If a team wants to win, they play, and if not they lay down."

The Leopards made quick work of the second set and used just three servers: Kyana Norman with the first 13 service points, Kelly Cigainero, who served in four, and Amoiya Gentry, who had eight.

Liberty-Eylau's momentum came to a literal standstill as gameplay was discontinued for almost 15 minutes in the third set, while roster rotation issues were being addressed by the officials.

"I told the girls, 'Just because you have an unforced delay in your game doesn't mean you lose focus,'" Harris said. "I told them, 'Although this is not a district game, this could happen in district, and if we lose focus against a district opponent, the outcome might not be a sweep like it was tonight.'"

Liberty-Eylau was up 3-0 before the delay. After play resumed the Leopards increased their lead to 8-2 after a number of errors committed by the Lady Panthers and kills from both Taylor Crabtree and Daycoria Meadows.

Ashdown did not go out quietly. The Panthers rallied to knot things up at 18. The lead changed four times from there, with knots again at 20, 24, and 25, before L-E's Derrica Henderson ended the match with a final kill.

Gentry finished with 14 service points and eight kills. Noman had 13 service points. Henderson had six kills and six blocks. Cigainero contributed 15 assists and 10 digs and Crabtree added 10 digs of her own.

Atlanta defeated the Leopards' 8th grade A team, 25-15, 25-22. Tia Haskins had 15 service points for the Lady Rabbits. Breyana Block and Alyssa Fulton each served in eight points for L-E.

Presely Humphrey served in 15 winners to lead Atlanta's 7th A team over the Leopards, 25-14, 25-17. Myah Hurd paced L-E with nine service points.
Liberty-Eylau opens up district play at Atlanta on Friday at 4:30 p.m.

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