Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Lady Wildcats win
Springdale Har-Ber downs Fayetteville in five-set thriller.
SPRINGDALE — Springdale Har-Ber and Fayetteville added another dramatic chapter to their tense rivalry Tuesday.
The Lady Wildcats, in the end, earned a thrilling 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 23-25, 20-18 home win against the Lady Purple’Dogs to push their win streak to nine matches. The win also gave Har-Ber (10-2) in sole possession of second place in the 7A-West with two league matches to play.
“I’m just really proud of our tenacity,” Har-Ber coach Shyrah Schisler said. “We faced a lot of adversity tonight. If we missed a serve, someone came back and fought right after that, and that’s just really big. That’s what you want to do at this time of the year. We want to make it fun. Nobody likes boring volleyball.
“There’s a good rivalry there, and it’s made both teams better. … You’ll never forget those when you’re an adult.”
Senior Lauren Thompson led the Lady Wildcats with 28 kills, including six in the decisive fifth set. Jayci Carpenter added 15 kills in the win and three in the final set. In all, there were 13 ties and 14 lead changes in the fifth set.
The Lady Wildcats (24-6) took a three-point lead on three occasions, but Fayetteville battled back each time, reaching match point twice later in the set. But a Thompson kill and a service error kept Har-Ber alive. And that’s when the Lady Wildcats put the match away on another Fayetteville error and Natalie Williams’ match-clinching ace.
“It was so exciting,” Thompson said. “I was so glad when Natalie went back and aced them. The game could have been different if that didn’t happen. It’s just awesome to win with my team.”
“It was kind of like the state championship last year because its Fayetteville,” Carpenter added. “We were the underdogs, but we came out on top.”
Fayetteville’s Haley Warner was the star for the Lady Purple’Dogs, totaling a matchhigh 38 kills. Senior Ella May Powell contributed 18 kills, four in the fifth set, and 49 assists.
“I think it’s definitely a state tournament kind of environment,” Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said.
Har-Ber travels to Van Buren Thursday while Fayetteville (21-11, 9-3 7A-West) visits Springdale High.
BENTONVILLE HIGH 3, ROGERS HIGH 0
Tymber Riley had 12 kills and 19 digs to lead the Lady Tigers to a 25-13, 25-6, 25-17 win over Rogers High at Tiger Arena.
Grayce Joyce added nine kills and two blocks, while setter Baylee Barganier chipped in 34 assists, three aces and two kills Bentonville, which improved to 22-4 overall and 11-1 in 7A-West Conference play. Rogers fell to 11-19 and 4-8.
SPRINGDALE HIGH 3, VAN BUREN 2
Springdale avenged a heartbreaking five-set home loss to the Lady Pointers in the first round of conference matches with its 22-25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-15, 15-6 win at Van Buren Tuesday.
The win places Springdale in sole possession of fourth place in the 7A-West with two league matches to play. Zoe Schmidt finished with a team-high 15 kills and 12 digs for the Lady Red’Dogs, and Jessie Davis added nine kills. Kaleigh Breathitt had 35 digs and Annalia Slater recorded 20 assists as well.
BENTONVILLE WEST 3, ROGERS HERITAGE 0
Kortney Puckett recorded 12 kills as West kept its state tournament hopes alive with a 25-13, 25-21, 25-12 victory over Heritage in War Eagle Arena.
Emerson Traweek added eight kills while Avery Kniss and Kerryann Ptacek chipped in six apiece for the Lady Wolverines (13-17, 4-8), who moved into a tie with Van Buren and Rogers for fifth place in the 7A-West standings with two matches remaining. Winnie Spurlock had a team-high 36 assists for West.
Erica Reaser had six kills for Heritage (5-22-1, 0-12), which was eliminated from tournament play with the loss. Bekah Hofstra had 11 assists for the Lady War Eagles, while Brooklyn Head had four blocks and Berenice Morales chipped in 11 assists.
GREENWOOD 3, SILOAM SPRINGS 0
Greenwood pulled out a close win in the first set and then rolled to a 25-23, 25-18, 25-16 sweep of the Lady Panthers on Tuesday in a 5A/6A District 1 match.
Sophomore Zoie Benton led Greenwood (25-7, 11-0) with nine kills, while sophomore Camryn Presley and senior Carrie Cesla each had seven kills. Cesla also had 13 digs and 10 assists.
Senior libero Lexi Castillow led defensively with 22 digs and sophomore Izzy Davis had 17 digs. Senior setter Brooke Shortes had 15 assists.
Junior Ellie Lampton led Siloam Springs (13-14, 8-4) with 11 kills and 13 digs, while senior Shaylon Sharp had eight kills and 10 digs. Junior Chloe Price had 23 assists.