Lady Blazers return to familiar surroundings

MORRILTON —Making it to the state championship match is more of an expectation than a goal for Valley View .

Sixteen consecutive trips to the state final, 13 state titles —including the last four — have made even losing a set in the state tournament a rare occurrence for the Blazers.

“There’s urgency and there’s tradition,” Lady Blazers Coach Margie McGee said Thursday.

Valley View (40-2) not only earned a spot in Saturday’s Class 4A championship match for the 17th consecutive time, but it extended a three-year streak of winning matches in the state tournament without losing a set, defeating host Morrilton 25-15, 25-10, 26-24 at the Devil Dog Arena.

Valley View goes for a fifth consecutive state title at 7 p.m. on Saturday, and will have to beat a Brookland team it has already defeated five times this season.

Saturday wasn’t on McGee’s mind during a frantic third set when Morrilton took the lead, extended it to five points on four occasions, slipped into a 15-15 tie, then led by as much as 20-16 and were within one point of extending the match to a fourth game.

McGee and Morrilton Coach Patti Hill used both of their timeouts as the set went back and forth, managing the game as if it were the fifth and deciding set.

“That’s what we asked of them, to play hard, and they did,” Hill said of her undersized Devil Dogs (24-6-1). “We’re just going to fight on every point.”

McGee said Valley View, which has won 33 consecutive state tournament sets dating back to 2016, is not content with simply winning and advancing.

“That’s something they’re proud of, very proud of,” McGee said of winning without losing a set. “Handling their business on the court.”

The Blazers, anchored by 6-4 junior Ashley Lamkin, 5-10 senior Gracie McGee and 5-8 junior Reese Owens, come into each match knowing they have a bull’s-eye on their back.

BROOKLAND 3, BATESVILLE 1

Brookland advanced to the championship match with a 21-25, 25-11, 25-11, 25-15 victory over 4A Northeast rival Batesville.

The key for Brookland (29-7-1) was to neutralize Batesville’s talented middle blocker, Jalise Stewart, which it did.

Plus, Bearcats got a boost from outside hitters Ashton Hamrick and Loren Payne, who peppered Batesville with a variety of spikes and blocks to turn the momentum.

“I feel like we really wanted it today,” Brookland Coach Nancy Rodriguez said. “Maybe too much in the first game.”

Confidence was never an issue, even with the presence of Stewart, for a Brookland team that is undefeated in three matches against Batesville this season.