Lady Cards have successful season despite 1st-round loss
HASKELL – The Harmony Grove Lady Cardinals would end their season this past Monday, getting swept by Baptist Prep in the first round of the 3A South Conference Tournament in Fountain Lake. The Lady Eagles downed the Lady Cardinals 25-19, 25-19 and 25-15 to end Harmony Grove’s year at 17-9 overall, 3-5 in the South.
“Although we got beat in the first round of our conference tournament, our girls had an excellent season,” Harmony Grove Coach Chad Gardner said. “This is a team that won five regular-season games last year. We graduated one senior last year. These girls work hard to get better all offseason and really supported each other as a team.”
Harmony Grove sophomore Irelyn Flynn led the way with 13 kills in the loss, with senior Hailey Webb, who committed to play volleyball at Central Baptist College (Conway), followed with 11 kills. Junior setter Ravyn White led the way with 25 assists, with Webb leading the way with eight digs.
“We play in a tough conference; any team could beat anybody any time,” Gardner said. “We had a tough draw playing Baptist in the first round. We split with them in the regular season and they are a tough team.
“My girls played their tails off. We just had fewer points in the end. I’ve got a lot of young girls coming back that got to play a lot this year. We are a team of role players and all season long these girls played their role. I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls to go to battle with night in and night out.”
The Lady Cardinals will say goodbye to seniors Webb, who led HG with 281 kills this season, Autumn Stoker, Saige Jewett,
Kayley Isom and Kailey Southerland, who was second on the team with 84 digs.
“All year long I talked about mental toughness and growing mentally on the floor,” Gardner said. “This year’s seniors really took that message and ran with it. We played two seniors on varsity and the other three spent most of the year playing JV. Those three girls understood their job and really responded to being supportive of the players on the floor. The two seniors (Webb and Southerland) who started all year long were the leaders. They took responsibility for this team and pushed them daily to find ways to get better. Hailey Webb and Kailey Southerland are both fierce competitors who have been a joy to coach. Their leadership is what drove this team to a 17-win season.”
The Lady Cardinals also have some talent coming back for next year. A sophomore, Flynn was second on the team with 258 kills, while leading the way in service aces (56) and blocks (75), while also adding 83 digs.
Junior Shanna Shoptaw led the Lady Cards with 88 digs, adding 69 kills and 49 aces, while junior Ravyn White also returns after leading the squad with 217 assists. Junior Megan Clay will be back after a season of 58 kills, 67 digs and 37 aces.
“I have a lot of girls coming back that have a lot of game experience,” Gardner said. “We will have a tough road in our conference like always and we are going to be undersized. There’s just not a lot of height in the program right now. We will continue to work and find ways to get better. Our defense will have to be better next season, but I have no doubt that the girls will be up to the task.”