Lady Mules Win Regional With Business-Like Approach

Chet Snyder’s Fairfield Lady Mules entered Thursday night’s Regional championship knowing they already had two victories over their opponents under their belts. For the Mules, it was mostly about handling the pressure that comes with being a heavy favorite.

Handle it they did, rolling to a 25-14, 25-13 win over the Mt. Carmel Lady Aces in McLeansboro. For Snyder and the Lady Mules, it is their fourth Regional championship in the last five postseasons. For the veteran coach, it is his sixth of his career.

Fairfield advances to the Pinckneyville Sectional, where the Lady Mules will once again find themselves in the favorite role, albeit to a lesser extent. Fairfield (34-3) will face the host Panthers, who are 25-12. Pinckneyville was in the Lady Mules’ Invitational Saturday, but the two squads did not meet up, as the Panthers placed eighth in the tournament won the Lady Mules.

On the other side of the Sectional is two squads the Lady Mules have faced, with BDC rival Carmi (30-7) facing Massac County (31-6). Fairfield has two wins over Carmi, one a three-set war, while they beat Massac County Saturday to win their tournament championship.

Fairfield is eighth in the MaxPreps 2A state rankings. Massac County is 15^th, Carmi is 33^rd and Pinckneyville is 47^th.

In the Regional championship match Thursday, Fairfield got a strong start from junior Cori Sutton in the service game, starting with three straight aces to put the Aces on their heels early.

Fairfield would never trail in the set, or the night for that matter, as they routinely traded two- and three-point runs for one. The Aces did not score on their own serve until their 10^th point of the set. Fairfield led 15-10 at that point, and followed it up with a 6-2 run.

Mt. Carmel got back within seven at 21-14 but then Emersyn Robbins put down three kills in the final four points, giving her eight in the set.

Fairfield led the entire first set. They did not quite pull that off in the second set, but they also never trailed. Mt. Carmel tied them at two and then three. After that, it was all Lady Mules once again.

They went up 6-3 on a missed serve, a block by Robbins and Kenzie Turner and then ace from Sutton, her fourth of the night.

Mt. Carmel got back within two at 8-6, but Fairfield followed with a kill from Turner and then back-to-back aces by Ava Best. Robbins would put down another kill, from the back row for a 12-7 lead.

The Aces tried to rally again, getting back within three at 13-10, but a missed serve from the Aces started a five-point surge from Fairfield that included two attack errors from Mt. Carmel, a kill by Lainie Clark and then an ace from Rylee Edwards. It was Fairfield’s eighth ace of the night, giving Mt. Carmel a new twist on the Aces moniker.

Mt. Carmel scored their last point at 19-13, with Fairfield finishing strong, scoring six in a row for their longest run of the night to close out the game. In that run, they got a kill from Turner, two from Gracie Atwood and a final one from Edwards.

Fairfield finished with 22 kills in 52 attacks, with seven attack errors. Mt. Carmel finished with 13 kills and 12 attack errors. Senior Mabry Ellis led the defense with 11 digs.

Fairfield def. Mt. Carmel
25-14, 25-13

Kills-Attacks-Errors—Emersyn Robbins 11-28-4, Kenzie Turner 5-7, Gracie Atwood 3-7-3, Rylee Edwards 2-6, Lainie Clark 1-2, Ava Best 0-2, Total 22-52-7.

Assists—Edwards 13, Best 8.

Block Solos—Clark 1.

Block Assists—Robbins 1, Turner 1.

Digs—Ellis 11, Edwards 6, Robbins 3, Best 3, Turner 3, Sutton 3, Atwood 2, Newman 1.

Serving—Robbins 11-12, Sutton 12-12, Edwards 9-10, Best 6-6, Ellis 2-4, Newman 2-5.

Aces—Sutton 4, Best 2, Edwards 2.