State volleyball
Springdale advances after two down seasons
Fayetteville’s Haley Warner (above) celebrates a point during the Lady Bulldogs’ victory over Bryant on Tuesday during the first round of the Class 7A volleyball state tournament at Conway. Tournaments are being held at five sites around the state.
CONWAY — Winners of only 13 combined matches in 2015 and 2016, the Springdale Lady Bulldogs are moving on in this season’s Class 7A state volleyball tournament.
Senior outside hitter Jessie Davis led a balanced attack for the Lady Bulldogs, turning in 14 kills and 24 digs as Springdale eliminated Mount St. Mary 3-1 on Tuesday afternoon at Buzz Bolding Arena. Springdale won the match 2519, 24-26, 25-21, 27-25.
Springdale (14-11) advances to play 7A-West Conference champion Bentonville (29-4) in today’s quarterfinals.
“The one thing about us is that we have been a well-balanced team,” Springdale Coach Meagan Thompson said. “I think that kind of makes this team special. We really don’t have that go-to player. When we call a timeout, it’s just ‘Let’s get this done, set it to whoever is ready and get a good swing.’ We have a lot players out there who we trust.”
Mount St. Mary (14-14) controlled the majority of the second game behind six kills from junior middle hitter Camille Smith, but the Belles rarely held a lead in the final two games. Smith finished with a team-high 15 kills.
“I think at the state tournament everybody’s nervous in the first match,” Mount St. Mary Coach Lane West said. “But we just couldn’t get it going. The West always has good teams, and in certain situations we could match them point for point, but when they got a run going, it was hard for us to fight back.”
Springdale, which finished 5-19-1 in 2016 and 8-18-1 in 2015, started Tuesday’s third game by jumping out to a 9-2 advantage. The Belles could only get as close as three points before the Lady Bulldogs closed out the game. Mount St. Mary saved four match points in the fourth game before finally dropping the match.
Springdale had four girls with 10 or more kills, including 12 from senior Kiki Turner, 11 from junior Zoe Schmidt and 10 from senior Graycie Bohannan. Senior Aliyah Brown led the Lady Bulldogs with 25 assists, and senior Kaleigh Breathitt collected 30 digs. Turner and junior Lauren Bench each served two aces.
Senior Bailey Marchal added 11 kills, and junior Lila Nichols nine for Mount St. Mary.
FAYETTEVILLE 3, BRYANT 0
The defending state champion Lady Bulldogs had no trouble with the Lady Hornets, taking a 25-16, 25-7, 25-14 victory.
Senior Haley Warner registered 17 kills and four blocks as Fayetteville (2411) advanced to today’s quarterfinals to face North Little Rock (22-4).
Fayetteville struggled early and led only 9-7 in the first game before dominating the rest of the match. The Lady Bulldogs scored the first seven points of the second game and never looked back.
Senior Ella May Powell finished with 28 assists, sophomore Arianna Walter made a team-high 5 blocks and sophomore Laney Daniels served 3 aces.
ROGERS 3,
FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 1
Senior outside hitter Hannah Martin came up with 13 kills and 11 digs as the Lady Mounties (15-19) turned back a game effort by the Lady Bears (14-14).
Rogers won the match 25-15, 25-18, 22-25, 28-26.
After winning the first game, Rogers trailed 13-8 in the second game before scoring 11 of the next 12 points. In the final game, Northside survived seven match points, turning a 24-18 deficit into a 24-24 tie. The Lady Bears had a one point to extend the match to five games, but Rogers won the final three points to end the match.
Seniors Madelyn Tauai and Emily Harris added 10 kills for Rogers. Tauai also had a team-high 26 digs and four aces. Junior Anna Randels added 22 digs. Sophomore Karina Duran led the Lady Mounties in blocks with six.
Northside senior Chloe Fitzgerald led her team with 14 kills while making 11 digs. Senior Sydney Green made 29 digs, sophomore Lexie Mosby handed out 28 assists and senior Alexis Evans came up with seven kills.