Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bentonville West downs Bentonville High
BENTONVILLE WEST 3, BENTONVILLE HIGH 1
CENTERTON — Bentonville West rallied from a 10-point deficit to take the third set en route to a 3-1 win over rival Bentonville High on Tuesday night to close out 6A-West Conference play at Wolverine Arena.
Kortney Puckett hammered 20 kills and served up six aces as the Lady Wolverines (17-15, 9-5) earned a 25-15, 19-25, 26-24, 25-21 victory.
West also secured the No. 3 seed in next week’s state tournament.
Bentonville (16-16, 10-4) will be the No. 2 seed from the West, but looked to have momentum in the third set with a 19-9 lead. But West persevered and slowly got momentum back to tie it at 21.
West even had set point, leading 24-22 after Puckett’s ace, but the Lady Tigers roared back to tie on kills by Savanna Riney and Trinity Hamilton.
But West scored the next two for the win. The Lady Tigers started strong in the fourth set, too, grabbing a 5-1 lead. But West fought back to close out the match.
Emerson Traweek added 14 kills and three aces for the Lady Wol- verines, while Baylee Lester had a team-high 13 digs. Setter Lexi Carter also dished out 25 assists.
Riney led Bentonville with 15 kills and 10 digs, while Hamilton added 10 kills. Kloey Eakin also had a team-high 20 digs for the Lady Tigers.
Both teams were playing without starters because of concussions. The Lady Wolverines were missing libero Shea O’Brien, while the Lady Tigers were without the service of setter Meagan Atchison. Both are expected to be back for next week’s state tournament.
West coach Julie Rowan had faith in her team to regain their composure in that big third set. She opted not to call timeout.
“We were getting in system and able to get our big hitters the ball,” Rowan said. “I know even the ref thought I was calling a timeout when I was calling for a sub. I just wanted to put it on them and make them dig it out. I’m so proud of them that the did.
“We had trouble in serve receive