PARIS- Booneville head volleyball coach Bailey Stringer brought her much-improved Lady Bearcats squad into Paris on Tuesday night to see just how far their program has progressed against the established Paris program that has been one of the state’s top programs for over ten years. And although it was Paris winning a critical 3A West match on Tuesday night, Booneville can be proud of how they competed and for the future that lies ahead for Booneville volleyball.
Paris began the match by jumping out to a 25-17 win in the first set. But the Lady Bearcats would fight back, sending the second set beyond 25 points. Booneville defeated Paris 28-26 to even the match at one set apiece.
But Paris would survive several calls for being out of alignment or rotation and came out strong in the third to retake the advantage in the match by a set score of 2-1. Paris won the third set by the score of 25-20.
Both teams would continue to battle in the fourth. The Paris front line was dominant in the match, as the Booneville backcourt played “lights out” saving many volleys along the way. The Lady Bearcats’ back line, led by the All-State junior libero Lillian Downs, kept Booneville in the match all night.
Paris would eventually pull away from a Booneville team that refused to give up, winning the fourth and final set by the score of 25-20 to win the match by the set score of 3-1.
As a result of the Paris win, the Lady Eagles improve their conference record to 2-1 and will travel to Elkins on Thursday for another 3A West matchup with the Lady Elks. Booneville suffers their first conference loss of the season, and their record falls to 2-1. The Lady Bearcats will play at Hackett on Thursday. The Paris win also gives the Lady Eagles a head-to-head win over Booneville which could be important next month in determining who the possible runner-up in the conference regular season, as well as the number two seed in the district tournament could be. It is also important to note that finishing in the top two of the conference guarantees a bye to the semifinals of the district tournament and guarantees a berth in the state tournament.
So, a lot was on the line for the Lady Eagles tonight, as well as answering the question of how the team would respond after the road loss to Hackett last week. Paris fans can be very proud of how the team responded tonight.
RNN Sports will be in Paris again on Tuesday, September 12 for the Lady Eagles conference match with the West Fork Lady Tigers. Stay with RNN Sports for the most complete coverage of River Valley high school volleyball.
