LINCOLN -- An eerie silence permeated the Lincoln gym just before Pea Ridge up 2-0 and leading Gravette 24-8 in the third set served.
The impromtu moment of silence punctuated all the drama which occurred during Pea Ridge's 25-16, 25-13, 25-9 sweep of Gravette in the district tournament held at Lincoln Tuesday, Oct. 17.
All the drama occurred on the opponents' bench.
In a scene reminiscent of Hometown Legend, a 2002 movie about a teenage drifter living out of an abandoned box car seeking a football scholarship. The town's legendary coach played by Terry O'Quinn comes out of retirement and runs the high school football program with a gridiron fist.
When the newcomer won't follow instructions and run up the middle the coach moves the practice inside the confines of a fenced-in tennis court. He has the newcomer carry the football, repeating the same play until the kid is exhausted.
"Trust your blockers," the coach says.
Yet, the kid keeps trying to go wide and there's nowhere to go inside the tennis court, but to get tackled against the fence.
During one game the coach orders two of his players to start running laps around the field with the game in progress. Naturally, as they pass their opponents' bench they get taunted.
When a fight breaks out between the teams on the field and they don't come to the aid of their teammates the coach kicks them off the team. They get no second chances, they're done. Eventually, he boots so many players the undersized kicker has to play defensive end and takes a beating.
In spite of all this adversity a core group remains. No matter what the coach does, and regardless of what happens on the field and what criticisms they endure within the community, there are players, including the newcomer, who refuse to quit.
Gravette volleyball coach Brandi Varner tried various motivational ploys in an effort to jump-start her team against Pea Ridge. The Lady Blackhawks started strong, dealing out kills along the front line by Cassy Porter (2), Madison Mcguire (2), Kynley Burton (2) and Josey Goldberg to jump ahead, 9-3. Varner called time-out. In the huddle she challenged the Lady Lions, "Is this what y'all want to end on? You decide, it's your choice... Figure it out."
The best they could do at that juncture was almost trade points. Still, Pea Ridge owned a 9-7 advantage until play was stopped again with the score 18-10. All six Gravette starters ran lines for the duration of the time-out.
Varner administered a measure of discipline trying to get the Lady Lions inspired to hustle to get to hit balls and they pulled within, 22-16, getting two kills from Allie Callahan and one apiece by Shelbye Varner and Carlie Ericson. But a pair of kills by Josey Goldberg, sandwiched around Gravette's inability to get a third hit ended the first set with Pea Ridge winning 25-16.
"Everybody out," Varner ordered and rotated all six starters to the bench. They were sequestered in a separate huddle while Varner addressed the remainder of the Gravette varsity. Senior Amy Lee came in to play outside hitter, junior Brooklyn Lykins played middle blocker and senior Sydney King played back-row along with sophomore Alexia Heaton. The new lineup was given an opportunity to perform in the district tournament, albeit competing against a quality opponent that was in rhythm.
Gravette reserves didn't fair any better than the starters, who were regulated to the end of the bench. Pea Ridge once more assumed a commanding lead of 17-8. They closed with an 8-5 run scoring the final two points of a runaway 25-13 victory on Gravette hitting errors.
"I'm going to go with the original group because I don't know what else to do," Varner announced at the end of the second set.
By now Gravette was so flustered they fell behind, 19-5. The tension built up until a moment of silence pervaded the arena just before Pea Ridge served for match-point, at 24-8. Cheers of excitement from Pea Ridge fans, anticipating a state tournament berth, broke the silence as the serve was released. Yet, the silence was there for a moment, clearly distinguished in an otherwise noisy environment.
A Pea Ridge hitting error delayed the inevitable, but only for a moment. Facing elimination, the Lady Lions fought as long as they could trading volleys. Eventually Pea Ridge junior Maria Socha anticipated a hit and recorded a block-kill to end the match, 25-9.
That was enough for everybody watching the contest.
Sports on 10/25/2017