Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Win over Rogers High makes Fayetteville’s road a little easier
ROGERS — Fayetteville’s road to a possible 6A-West Conference volleyball championship doesn’t need to be any tougher, especially with trips to Bentonville High and Springdale Har-Ber still remaining.
The Lady Bulldogs helped their cause Thursday night by holding off a stiff challenge by Rogers High and taking a 3-1 victory in King Arena
“Any time you’re on the road in the 6A-West, it’s going to be challenging,” Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said after the 25-10, 19-25, 25-17, 25-17 decision. “I thought we started the night pretty well and ended the night pretty well. The middle was rocky and up-anddown, but a lot of that had to do with Rogers.”
Rosana Hicks had 16 kills and Ameilia Whatley added 11 for Fayetteville (20-3, 8-1), which dominated the first set and had the lead for brief moments in the second set. Rogers (9-18, 3-6), however, used a short 6-1 run for a 15-11 lead after a Brooke Park ace and went on to even the match at 1-1.
The Lady Bulldogs responded by jumping out to a 6-0 lead in the third set and never let the Lady Mounties any closer than four points. Rogers did have a 12-9 lead in the fourth set after a Kate Miller kill, but Fayetteville bounced back after a timeout and scored 12 of the next 14 points to set the stage for the win.
“At that point, you have to shift the focus from what is going wrong and start rallying around the things that go right,” Phelan said. “It shifted the energy, more than anything, to our side of the net. They started rallying and playing with a little more confidence, and that enabled us to get the win.”
Kennedy Phelan added 44 assists and Gracyn Spressed had 19 digs for Fayetteville. Abby Harris had nine kills for Rogers, while Gracie Carr and Phoenix Bailey added seven apiece. Cam Brockhoff had 21 digs and Park 16 for the Lady Mounties.
BENTONVILLE HIGH 3, VAN BUREN 2
Bentonville was taken to the limit before the Lady Tigers claimed a 25-14, 23-25, 2518, 20-25, 15-7 victory at Van Buren and maintained their share of the 6A-West lead.
Trinity Hamilton had 28 kills and 20 digs for Bentonville (16-6, 8-1), while Maddie Breed and Savanna Riney added 18 and 13 kills, respectively. Kloey Eakin led five Lady Tigers in double-digit digs with 34, while Taylor Shapley added another double-double with 53 assists and 13 digs. Breed also had a teamhigh seven blocks.
Madalyn and Grace Doolittle led Van Buren with 10 kills each. Brianna Ball dished out 26 assists.
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 3, ROGERS HERITAGE 0
The Lady Wildcats bounced back from back-toback conference losses to claim a 25-15, 25-19, 25-16 win the Lady War Eagles.
Kat Cooper led the way with 13 kills, while sophomore Caylan Koons registered a double-double with 13 digs and 19 assists. Liz Puente also finished with a team-high 17 digs for Har-Ber (15-6, 7-2).
Ashley Ware led Heritage with 10 kills, while Brittney Ware had a match-high 21 digs. Ava Cate Cameron dished out 12 assists.
BENTONVILLE WEST 3, SPRINGDALE HIGH 0
In a tight contest, the Lady Wolverines swept Springdale 25-18, 25-19, 25-23.
Amanda Johnson and Taina Miller had 4 kills each for Springdale (4-11, 1-8 6A-West). Matty Chong Gum had 9 assists and Bethlynn Kobeney had 19 digs.
GREENWOOD 3, GREENBRIER 0
Hannah Watkins had 13 kills and Brooke Jones added 10 to lead the Lady Bulldogs to a big 25-21, 25-16, 25-23 win to regain a share of the 5A-West Conference lead.
Caitlin Johnson had four aces and Camryn Presley chipped in nine kills and four blocks for Greenland (14-, 7-1).
FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 3, CABOT 2
Avery Fitzgerald hammered 22 kills, but the Mavericks had to work to earn a 22-25, 25-10, 25-19, 16-25, 15-12 6A-Central win.
Toree Tiffee added 15 kills and nine digs, while Hannah Hogue registered a double-double with 23 digs and 44 assists for Southside (17-5, 8-1).