Lady Mules Deliver Heart-Stopping Performances For Two Road Wins

A pair of things have been apparent for a while now in the land of the Fairfield Lady Mules volleyball. 1) The target is squarely on their back, off to a 19-2 record with both losses coming to much larger schools in tournament action. 2) This week would be the biggest non-tournament test they see in the regular season.

Chet Snyder’s squad have three road games this week against quality opponents. Well, two down, one to go, after Fairfield picked up a win in Mt. Carmel Monday and then another in Carmi, surviving tough tests in both. They knocked off the Aces, 28-26, 25-15 then turned around 24 hours later and edged the Bulldogs, 26-24, 19-25, 25-23.

Emersyn Robbins led the way in both match, putting down 22 kills in the first match, then a school record 31 against Carmi. That broke her own record, set last year at Hamilton County. The back-to-back big nights were also enough to move her into the top 10 all time in IHSA volleyball history for career kills.

Acing The Aces

At Mt. Carmel Monday, Fairfield jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, but the Aces were not phased by the quick start. They took nine of the next 13 points to get back to a tie at nine, then took a lead at 13-12. It looked like the Mules had regained their footing when they pulled away to a 22-16 lead, led by four kills from Robbins in a five-point stretch, but then Mt. Carmel surged again.

Mt. Carmel went on an 8-1 run to get to game point, up 24-23. Fairfield tied them at 24, then took a lead on a kill from Rylee Edwards on the right side. Mt. Carmel answered with a kill, then wen tup 27-26 with a block of a Robbins attack.

Then Robbins put down a kill and Edwards served an ace for another Fairfield lead. They ended the set when a Mt. Carmel attack went wide.

The second set was another back-and-forth affair…until it wasn’t. Fairfield went up 14-11 before giving up four straight points to fall behind. Down 15-14, Robbins put down her 18^th kill of the night for a tie at 15 and send Edwards to the service line. That proved to be a killer combo, with the server acing the Aces three times and Robbins adding four more kills as Fairfield scored the last 11 points of the match.

Edwards finished with five kills, 18 assists, six aces and was a perfect 19-19 serving.

“When Rylee is really good, the Lady Mules are tough to beat. The bigger the game usually the better she gets,” Snyder said.

Fairfield was 48-of-52 serving overall, with nine aces.

“I knew it was going to be a battle. It is always hard to come in here (Mt. Carmel) and play. I have coached 21 years and I do not think we have ever played sharp here,” Snyder said. “We just kept plugging away. We snuck the first out. Then when Rylee stepped to the line in that second set…whew! It was lights out.”

Fairfield def. Mt. Carmel
29-27, 25-15

Kills-Attacks-Errors—Emersyn Robbins 22-44-7, Rylee Edwards 5-13-1, Gracie Atwood 3-9-2, Kenzie Turner 1-6-1, Lainie Clark 2-5-1, Ava Best 1-4, Kenzie Turner 1-6-1, Total 34-81-12.

Serving—Edwards 19-19, Robbins 6-8, Katherine Newman 8-8, Cori Sutton 7-8, Mabry Ellis 4-5, Ava Best 4-4, Total 48-52.

Aces—Edwards 6, Robbins 2, Sutton 1.

Assists—Edwards 18, Best 7, Turner 1, Ellis 1.

Fairfield at Carmi Tuesday night was hyped by some online as the biggest game in the south, featuring the 20-2 Lady Mules and the 16-1 Lady Bulldogs, with conference and postseason implications on the line.

“This is probably the best Carmi team they have ever had. It is one of our best. This might be the biggest volleyball game in Carmi history at that gym,” Snyder said Monday after the Mt. Carmel win, looking ahead to the next night.

It was a match that lived up the hype, with lively student sections and a cardiac performance on the court that included a stellar comeback in the opening set and ended with the team scoring the most points on the night losing the match.

The first set saw the  home team slowly pull away, taking a lead at 7-6 and never trailing all the way to game point…only game point never came for the Lady Bulldogs. Carmi led 24-20, led by six first-set kills by Caroline Simmons. They “held” Robbins to eight of her own until the senior striker put down four straight kills for a tie at 24. That run of kills was broken only by a Carmi attack error, and then Edwards served an ace to end the set, rallying with six straight Fairfield points to end it.

Fairfield led the early going in the second set, up 8-5 and then 11-9. Then Carmi scored five straight points, then Fairfield scored four straight as the two heavyweight teams traded blows.

They were tied at 18, but then the home team surged again and the Lady Mules did not have another rally in them in the second set. Carmi scored seven of the final eight points for a 25-19 win, forcing a third set.

Deciding Set

Fairfield jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, but Carmi battled back to ties at 10, and then 12, 13, 14, and 15 as they traded punches once again. Fairfield started to pull away with a 6-2 run to lead 21-17. With Robbins in the back row, the Bulldogs mounted one last charge, scoring five straight to take their first lead of the set at 22-21.

A Carmi attack went wide, then Robbins and Lainie Clark teamed for a block to regain the lead. Cori Sutton served an ace to put the Lady Mules within a point of winning. Carmi got a kill from Simmons to stave that off, but only temporarily. The game ended, not shockingly, with Robbins putting down her school-record-breaking 31^st kill of the night. That record stood at just 17 a few short years ago before Robbins began re-writing the record books.

“This was just an incredible match, one of the best Black Diamond matches I have ever been a part of,” the 20-year veteran Snyder said after the win. “That is a testament to both sides. They battled so hard and wanted it so bad.”

Fairfield def. Carmi
26-24, 19-25, 25-23

Kills-Attacks-Errors—Robbins 31-63-8, Atwood 5-19-6, Turner 4-3-1, Edwards 1-14-4, Clark 0-7-2, Best 0-3, Total 41-119-21.

Serving—Ellis 14-15, Sutton 13-14, Edwards 10-11, Newman 7-10, Best 5-6, Total 55-64.

Aces—Ellis 1, Sutton 1, Edwards 1, Newman 1.

Digs—Ellis 22, Edwards 12, Robbins 10, Best 10, Newman 8, Sutton 3, Turner 2, Atwood 2, Clark 1, Riley Jolly 1.

Assists—Edwards 24, Best 13.