Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
‘One point at a time’ mantra pays off
CLASS 5A LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN 3, BENTON 2
HOT SPRINGS — Nothing seemed to faze Little Rock Christian during its volleyball match with Benton on Saturday, but anxiety was at an alltime high for Lady Warriors Coach Lacey Rowan
It’s a good thing her team had a remedy for that.
Little Rock Christian overcame a late two-point deficit in the fourth set and erased a four-point hole in the fifth to slip past Benton 22-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11 and capture its first Class 5A state title at Bank OZK Arena.
“Oh man, that one was stressful,” an ecstatic Rowan said. “Our team knew it would be a battle going in, but I told them that we just had to focus on one point at a time. No matter if we were up or down, we had to focus on one point, and then we can point to the next one.”
That mindset was the therapy the Lady Warriors needed, especially when things got dire in the fourth.
Little Rock Christian (353-1) and Benton (26-5) took turns answering one another over the first two sets. But the Lady Panthers used a 7-2 spurt — one fueled by a series of blistering kills from Abi Lagemann — to win the third and grab a 2-1 lead. Benton would establish a pair of rallies in the fourth and led 22-20 after a smash from Laci Bohannon before Rowan called a timeout to settle her team down.
That tactic worked because the Lady Warriors won five of the last six points, sparked by a set-closing block from the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, Harper Stokes, to force a deciding frame.
Consecutive kills from Lagemann and Bohannon helped push Benton out to a 4-0 lead in the fifth, but again, a timeout from Rowan led to another surge from Little Rock Christian.
A kill from Jordan Terry immediately after the break started an 11-5 push that put the Lady Warriors back in control. The Lady Panthers did get within 12-11 after a blast down the middle from Olivia McAllister, but Hallie Martin delivered one of her team-high 14 kills to start a finishing three-point flurry for the Lady Warriors.
“Not a lot of stuff gets in our heads, and I think that’s one of our best qualities,” said a smiling Stokes, who had 10 kills, 10 blocks and 2 aces in the match. “We stuck together in the fifth set. … This feels great.”
Romani Thurman had 13 kills and 6 blocks for Little Rock Christian, which had lost its first two meetings of the season with Benton. The Lady Warriors did turn the tables in their most recent encounter and won 3-1 on Oct. 21.
“Playing them so much this year kind of gave us a little bit of an advantage going in,” Rowan noted. “We kind of knew what they would do. They really tried to go in a line on us a lot, and we knew that. So we just really tried to work to cover that up.
“But I can’t say enough my team. They fought and fought, and I’m just so proud of them.”
The loss was a tough one for the Lady Panthers to swallow, particularly after being three points away in that fourth from winning their first state title since 2009.
“I felt like we played at a high level,” Benton Coach Michelle Shoppach said. “But every time we’d get four points ahead, [Little Rock Christian] would call a timeout and come back with their four points. But that’s volleyball at the highest level.
“I felt like we got some good swings, but we just couldn’t play as smooth as we needed to.”
Lagemann finished with 21 kills for Benton. Bohannon added 13 kills and 6 blocks, while McAllister had 15 kills.