Lady Miners sweep week
LITTLE ROCK – The Bauxite Lady Miners volleyball team had a good week of play, sweeping three straight matches for their fourth straight win, including taking down the Mills Lady Comets 3-0 (25-6, 25-12, 25-7) in 4A West Conference action Thursday in Little Rock. Bauxite (10-3, 7-2) also swept Malvern Tuesday and Harmony Grove Monday in Bauxite.
It was all Bauxite on Thursday in the rout.
“We took care of the business at hand and notched another conference win,” Bauxite Coach Dave Carter said. “I was pleased to see the team give great effort in staying mentally focused the entire match. It can be tough to stay focused, alert and ready to play maximum effort on every play when the volleys aren’t sustained and the ones that do are moving at a slower pace. We have worked on the mental approach to our volleyball for a while now. We had to will ourselves to stay on point in order to play at a high level. It was good to see diligence in that regard.”
The Lady Miners were big at the net all night as junior Lindsey Cross led the way with 12 kills, adding two aces and a block. Junior Haley Howard added six kills, two aces and two digs, with sophomore Lexi Bright adding five kills.
“We simply overpowered Mills with a significant size and experience advantage,” Carter said. “There was little resistance above the net. Our serves were in and on point.”
Sophomore setter Kayla
Bubbus led the way with 25 assists and five aces, with sophomore Bryley Bowman adding four aces. Junior Jaylin Rhoades had three kills, senior Riley Larkin had three digs and two aces, junior Victoria Lockhart had two aces and sophomore Kinsley Winder added four assists.
“The game gave us an opportunity to work on some details and then rest some players,” Carter said. “We are in a position in the conference standings to take our success into our own hands and finish very well. Our efforts for that will continue Monday when Mena comes to town. We’re excited for the rematch.”
Bauxite has a strong hold on third place in the 4A West with a 7-2 record, with Mena (12-1, 9-1) and Fountain Lake (8-2, 6-1) first and second, respectively.
Bauxite 3, Malvern 0
The Lady Miners swept Malvern 25-9, 25-16 and 25-21 on Tuesday at Fred Dawson Gym in Bauxite.
“We started the game strong and took control of the match,” Carter said. “Coach (Patricia) Glover seems to have her team playing its strongest ball at the end of each year, so we expected them to show up and play well. Their offense was more potent (Tuesday) than when we played earlier in the season, but thankfully we handled it pretty well.
“I am glad they pushed us and made us earn it. I continue to see some improvements in the areas we need to improve, yet we have so much more to grow into. The details of the game are what will help us compete at higher levels.”
Bubbus led the way with 26 assists, adding three aces, with Howard leading with 11 kills, adding four digs and three aces. Cross followed with eight kills, three aces and three blocks, Rhoades had five kills, Bowman eight digs and four aces, and Larkin added six digs and five aces.
“This team is achieving things no previous Lady Miner team has been able to since the program started five years ago,” Carter said. “That is because of the girls’ desire to compete and to win. If we take care of business each
night the rest of the season, we’re going to be in a great position for state. I am excited about our chances for the postseason as we move into the latter stages of the regular season. But we still have lots of work to do.”
Bauxite 3, Harmony Grove 0 The Lady Miners also swept the Harmony Grove Lady Cardinals
3-0 (25-17, 25-10, 25-17) Monday in nonconference action.
“We played well overall against the Cardinals,” Carter said. “Our approach was to attack them consistently with power and spread them out. It worked for most of the night. As we get later in the season, it’s important to try and stay conditioned while making sure we don’t lose our legs. We played well, took care of business and were able to get some additional experience in the team.”
Bubbus had 35 assists and three aces, with Cross and
Howard both killing 11 and acing three. Rhoades added eight kills, Larkin had five digs, Lockhart and Bowman had three aces each, senior Lexi Ryan had three digs, and Bright and junior Olivia Shields had two kills each.