El Dorado’s volleyball team managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory Thursday, falling 3-2 to Hot Springs at Wildcat Arena.
The Lady Wildcats (2-4) led 12-8 in the decisive fifth game. El Dorado committed a service error and three hitting errors, allowing the Lady Trojans to take a 14-12 lead.
Davin James had a kill at the net to cut the deficit to one but Hot Springs scored the game-winning point when a ball hit the floor between two Lady Wildcats on the front row.
Hot Springs prevailed 25-27, 25-16, 25-15, 19-25, 15-13.
“It was a tough loss last night,” El Dorado coach Amber Reynolds said on Friday. “Of course I was hoping for a different outcome but we came up short. We had moments that were beautiful and then we had undisciplined moments. In conference play, we need consistency and discipline.”
Laila Reynolds led El Dorado with seven kills.
“Laila came through with some kills and tough serves that helped build momentum but we couldn’t quite break all the way through,” said Coach Reynolds.
The Lady Wildcats rallied from game point down to win the first game. Reynolds’ kill tied the game at 25-25 before Diana Obiozo ended the game with a service winner, followed by an ace on game point.
The Lady Trojans never trailed in Game 2 after building a 9-0 lead and ended Game 3 with a 7-1 run. El Dorado trailed 13-5 in Game 4 and was down 15-8 before scoring 6 of the next 7 points. Aaliyah Morse had a pair of kills before Mallory Whitten fed James at the net for the put away, cutting the lead to 16-14.
The score as tied at 19-19 before a kill by Reynolds triggered a run of six straight points, capped by Obiozo’s ace on game point.
El Dorado will play a Texarkana on Tuesday and at Lake Hamilton on Thursday. El Dorado’s junior high and JV will host Smackover on Monday, starting at 4:30 p.m.
“I am proud of the way the ladies fought back and never quit,” said Reynolds. “We will continue to build and work on pushing points and making strategic decisions. We would also like to give a special thank you to our seventh man that hung in with us and cheered the entire time.”