HS Lakeside streaks past Batesville

HOT SPRINGS LAKESIDE 3, BATESVILLE 0

MARION — 5A- South Conference champion Hot Springs Lakeside avenged a five- set September loss to Batesville by eliminating the Pioneers from the Class 5A state volleyball tournament 25-19, 25-16, 25-13 on Tuesday afternoon at Fidelity Bank Arena.

“Batesville is a good team, well-coached and scrappy,” Lakeside Coach Rhonda Thigpen said. “We prepared for them and tried to capitalize on the weaknesses we had against them last time.”

Lakeside (19-11-1) hit Batesville (12-17-1) with six straight points midway through the first set, highlighted by a Paige Woods ace and two kills from Sarah Porter. A Batesville hitting error gave Lakeside a 13-7 lead and forced a Pioneer timeout. Lakeside’s largest lead of the first set reached 18- 9 on a Carsen Cordell kill.

Batesville got within four late in the set (21-17) when Kassidy Boyett served an ace, but Lakeside got three straight kills down the stretch from Madi Belle Landry to earn the opening-set victory.

The teams split the first 16 points of the second set when Lakeside tallied seven of the next nine points for a 15-10 lead, forcing a Batesville timeout. Landry logged two kills while Porter had one during the run. The Lakeside lead reached 21-12 when Woods dished an assist to Porter for a kill and forced another Batesville timeout. Cordell, Landry and Lindsey Mehlin picked up kills down the stretch to help Lakeside clinch a 25-16 margin in the second set.

Lakeside streaked to a 9-1 lead in the third set behind a pair of aces from Katherine Foreman and Kaitlyin Threadgill and two kills from Porter. A Woods kill and a block by Aubrey Judd gave the Rams a 14-5 advantage. Lakeside took advantage of four straight Batesville hitting errors to fashion a 20-5 lead.

“I’m proud of our girls because we played so hard,” Thigpen said. “We graduated five seniors from last year’s team, when we made the semifinals. So to start all over and nobody expects you to, I’m so proud of these girls. They’ve made their mark.”

Lakeside plays Benton today at 4 p.m.

GREENBRIER 3, BEEBE 0

5A-West Conference co-champion Greenbrier improved to 27-7-1 with a 25-20, 25-20, 25-19 victory over Beebe (9-15 overall) at 3M Transit Arena.

Greenbrier plays Jonesboro today at 4 p.m.

BENTON 3, MOUNTAIN HOME 0

Benton libero Abigail Lagemann served four aces during a flurry of 16 consecutive points in the second set at Fidelity Bank Arena, as the Panthers defeated the Bombers 25-22, 25-11, 25-16.

JONESBORO 3, SHERIDAN 0

Jonesboro (20-6) made quick work of Sheridan (12-8) at 3M Transit Arena, winning 25-11, 25-8, 25-4.

LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN 3, VAN BUREN 0

Little Rock Christian (32-3-1 , 13-1), co-champion of the 5A-Central, fought past Van Buren (13-3-3) during a 2519, 25-19, 25-21 victory at 3M Transit Arena.

MARION 3, WHITE HALL 0

The Marion Patriots claimed their 26th consecutive victory, defeating White Hall (13-12) 25-8, 25-7 and 25-11.

Marion (26-1) has lost just six sets this season.

GREENWOOD 3, JACKSONVILLE 0

Defending state champion Greenwood (21-12) continues its quest for a repeat title, dispatching of Jacksonville (22-91) 25-14, 25-12 and 25-23.

Greenwood, co- champion of the 5A-West, got a team-high 20 kills from sophomore hitter Myia McCoy.

PARAGOULD 3, LAKE HAMILTON 0

Paragould became the only lower-seeded team to notch a first-round victory, dispatching of Lake Hamilton 25-17, 25-23 and 25-9.