Purple’Dogs victorious

Fayetteville pulls off sweep of Springdale Har-Ber.

FAYETTEVILLE — Fayetteville swept Springdale Har-Ber 25-22, 25-22, 25-19 on Wednesday to win a rematch of the past two 7A state championship matches.

During the first set, Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan called a timeout after a ball landed on the court between three Lady Bulldogs (8-1, 4-1 7A-West) as all three looked at one another as though they thought the other player was going to get to it.

It evened the score at 15-all and neither team had led by more than two points up to that stage.

“We were just playing a little tentative and tight,” Phelan said. “I just took that moment to take a deep breath and relax, so I guess you could call it a little breather timeout.

“It was back and forth but it wasn’t our cleanest volleyball, so I thought we needed to refocus.”

They did and began taking control by the end of the set thanks to a kill by Haley Warner and two more from Ella May Powell, who finished with 10 kills to go along with a team-high 31 assists. Warner led all scorers with 20 kills while Carley Galloway had 17 digs.

Another standout for Fayetteville was freshman Rosanna Hicks, who chipped in seven kills and three blocks. She had backto-back kills to help the Lady Bulldogs pull away in the second set and added a couple of key blocks midway the third set. Her second kill in Set 2 pushed the lead to 2116 — Fayetteville’s largest at that point — and her second block extended the third0set margin to 12-6, which was the Lady Bulldogs’ largest lead of the entire match.

“Rosanna is a kid who gets better all the time,” Phelan said. “From the beginning on the season to now, she’s really gaining confidence and became a big weapon for us offensively and certainly has a bright future ahead of her.”

For Har-Ber, Lauren Thompson led the way with 20 serve receptions, nine kills and seven blocks.

Natalie Williams had 24 assists.

Fayetteville defeated HarBer in the state championship in each of the past two seasons.

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE Springdale Har-Ber’s Jayci Carpenter (21) taps the ball over the net Wednesday as Fayetteville’s Haley Warner (32) and Lyndsey Mylius attempt to block it at Bulldog Arena in Fayetteville.