Fairmont swept visiting West Bladen 3-0 Monday in a season-opening non-conference volleyball match by scores of 25-11, 25-15 and 25-13.
The Lady Tornadoes jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the opening game, but junior Morgan Schumacher halted the Fairmont run with a block, and junior Laikyn Pait reeled off six straight service points as West Bladen closed the gap to 13-10.
Junior Logan Autry tipped in a winner early in the Pait service run, and junior Kassidy Anderson knocked in a pair of kills.
The Lady Tornadoes answered with 14 straight points, before Pait snapped the streak with a diving return winner.
Schumacher spiked in a winner and scored on a block to capture a pair of service points for Autry as West went up 2-0 in Game 2. Fairmont rallied with a 16-6 run, before Anderson cracked a service winner, and Pait dove for another return winner.
The Fairmont lead grew to 23-10, before junior Kathryn Schultz slammed in a kill, and senior Lorna Smith captured a pair of service points for West. Pait fired in a service winner to narrow the margin to 24-15, but Fairmont won the next point.
The Lady Tornadoes started the third game with a 9-1 spurt, but Smith spiked in a winner. Smith drilled in a pair of aces and tacked on another service point on a Schumacher block that whittled the lead to 10-6.
Another winning return by Pait and a Schumacher service point kept the Lady Knights within 16-9, but Fairmont upped the count to 22-9.
A Schultz block won the serve for Anderson who hammered in an ace and another service point. Smith smacked in a winner to slice the margin to 23-13, but Fairmont took the next 2 points for the win.
Pait topped the West Bladen scoring with 7 service points and 3 winning returns. Smith smashed in a pair of aces and 2 kills to go with 5 service points and a tipped winner.
Anderson followed with 2 kills, an ace and 3 service points. Schumacher tallied 3 blocks, a kill and a service point. Autry contributed 2 service points and a tipped winner, and Schultz added a kill and a block.
West Bladen will travel to Pembroke State for the Black and Gold Tournament Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
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