Cox, West dominate All-Star match
CONWAY — The West bested the East at the Farris Center on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas as the West rallied from a single-set deficit to take a 4-1 win in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association’s All-Star volleyball match.
“We started off in the beginning, and I thought this was a solid group, all these kids going DI,” said West head coach April Mattix, of Harrison. “We started off really strong and backed off a bit and we started scoring for the other side. We noticed our errors, and the next group went in. We were really heavy in the second group with (defensive specialists).
“They just focused on defense and passing and let the other side make the mistakes. We came with that one, and we decided we were going to cheer for each other and have a lot of fun, starting focusing on great serving and great fundamentals and went from there.”
The West All-Stars dominated the fourth set, taking a 3-0 lead that they did not relinquish until the East rebounded to take a 14-13 lead.
The two teams continued to battle, the final of the six ties coming when the East knotted the score at 24-24, but the West held on with an ace by Harrison’s Katelynn Grant before an attack error by Conway’s Kendahl Davenport set the final, 26-24.
The West continued to dominate in the fifth set after securing the match in the guaranteed five-set game, taking another 3-0 lead, but this time, despite the East drawing the score twice, the West maintained the lead, cruising to a 25-22 win.
Greenwood’s Lexie Castillow excelled in defense, leading all players with 20 digs, earning her the Most Valuable Player award for the All-Star match.
Fountain Lake’s Olivia Cox was named the the Outstanding Player for the West, tallying seven kills in 27 attacks. She also picked up four aces and six digs with three block assists.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Cox said of winning the award. “I actually told my team, ‘I might as well sit down; I won’t get anything.’ As I was sitting down, they called my name. Shocker.”
West assistant coach Tina Moore, who is at the helm for the Lady Cobras, was not surprised.
“We looked at some stats. Game 2 and 4 that she played in, she kept us in the game. She played lights out. When we looked at stats, she had the most points percentage, and her stats showed that she deserved the award. She played great tonight.”
Mattix said she was impressed with Cox’s performance on the court.
“What I liked about it, she was out there giving us that fire,” Mattix said. “She scored a lot of points on serving, a lot of kills for us. She had the spunk that led that second group and just kept it. It carried on over to the next group. Between her, Lexie — that’s something with DSes, they keep the game alive. That really helps the energy.”
Cox admitted that with two practices, the teams were a bit rusty at first, but quickly learned to jell.
“It took us a little bit,” she said. “Our first practice, we were a little rusty, but after that first practice, we were clicking, getting balls down, getting them up. It worked out in the end.”
The East’s Outstanding Player was Conway’s Aryn Blumenberg, who had 15 assists and seven digs while picking up two kills.
The East got things going early, taking the first set, 25-22. Pocahontas’ Mikayla Kirk and Davenport led the team in the first set with four kills apiece with Valley View’s Gia Tricarico picking up three aces. Blumenberg put up eight assists in the set to lead her side.
The West was led by Siloam Springs’ Shaylon Sharp with four kills, but the team’s remaining seven kills were spread among six players. Paris’ Riley Owen led the West with eight assists, and Fayetteville’s Haley Warner and Harrison’s Isabella Gibbany picked up an ace each.
The first set was marked by seven ties and five lead changes.
Cox, who did not play the first set, took control in the second as she hit four aces in her first service, leading the West to a 10-5 lead before serving into the net. The Henderson State commit had four kills in the set.
The East bounced back under the service of Brookland’s Jacy Harris before the teams traded the lead multiple times.
Paris’ Jenna Lowery led the West back to the lead late in the set, pushing the team to the 25-20 win, in a set that saw 12 ties and five lead changes.
Castillow took control in the third set, serving the West to a 15-6 lead before Valley View’s Elizabeth Crist killed her deep service run.
The East got things rolling behind the back-toback service of Blumenberg and Marion’s Carly
Russell, pulling within 18-15, but the West managed to regain control to take a 2-1 lead with the 25-20 win. There were just three ties and lead changes as the West All-Stars dominated the set.
“This my third year doing this, I think that first set, I feel like since we’ve done it, I feel like we go out and push really hard and lose our focus,” Mattix concluded. “We’ve lost that first set. Then, boom-boom-boom, we came back from behind. You’ve got to regroup and see where we’re making mistakes and see where the other side has errors.”
The West was led by Owen and Murdock with 22 and 14 assists, respectively. Bentonville’s Tymber Riley led the six with 10 kills, Sharp added eight and Cox and Bentonville’s Emma Palasak seven each.
Blumenberg’s 15 assists led the East with Marion’s Lillian Fogleman adding nine. Davenport led the team with nine kills, Harris led with 16 digs and Jonesboro’s Magan Wicker had 10.