Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bentonville shakes off slow start to down Rogers
6A-WEST VOLLEYBALL BENTONVILLE 3, ROGERS 1
BENTONVILLE — Bentonville overcame a slow start Tuesday night to secure a 2125, 25-22, 25-12, 25-23 four-set win over Rogers inside Tiger Arena.
The victory strengthened the Tigers’ grip on the fourth spot in the 6A-West standings with four conference games remaining.
“I was really proud of them,” Bentonville coach Allison Venable said. “I will say that we have had traditionally slow starts, so we are working on having the mental toughness to play from the very first point. We’ve already warmed up, so we don’t need a game to warm up, but I think that the girls were very coachable and we made some adjustments, too. Defensively, Rogers was playing phenomenally. We had to kind of change our strategy a little bit.”
Rogers took the opening set, 25-21, behind a balanced effort at the net, and great defense. It was a period the Mounties controlled a steady hold on throughout.
“We punched them in the mouth,” Rogers coach Brandon Johnson said. “I mean, we came out really aggressive. We talked about that all week, about just coming out being the aggressor from the start. And I thought that we remained aggressive all game long. We passed amazingly and just played as a team in the first set. We just made more errors in the second, third, and fourth sets. I was really proud of the group for playing that aggressively, and then we swung on the net tonight like we hadn’t done in a little while this season.”
It was a tightly contested second set, but Bentonville made certain to not fall into an 0-2 hole. The teams went back-and-forth early, trading blows. Rogers first gained some breathing room when Olyvia Hall aced a serve to put the Mounties ahead 1916. From there, Bentonville’s Reagan Tunnell took over at the net, and the Tigers capitalized on Rogers’ miscues. The senior notched a pair of blocks and a kill en route to claiming a 25-22 set win, helped by a service error and net violation from the Mounties.
“I feel like we did really well just coming together as a team,” Tunnell said. “I feel like we start to play so much better on the court and we get it done faster when we all come together. I think we did a good job of answering.”
Tunnell had a well-rounded match for the Tigers, with seven kills, four blocks and three aces.
“Blocking-wise and offensively, she was just really a force at the net,” Venable said. “And it was fun to watch. It’s fun to watch her come alive like she did tonight.”
The Tigers dominated the next set. Bentonville scored the first four points to set the tone, and few minutes later, sophomore Madelynn Williams sent an ace over the net to put the Tigers ahead 12-6, which forced a Rogers timeout. From there, it was a superb showing at the net from Bentonville. Seven kills and three blocks in the final stretch of action powered the Tigers to a commanding 25-12 score.
“It’s pretty hype,” Tunnell said of stretches of play when the team is strong at the net. “I love it. When I’m clicking and we’re all clicking, it just gives us all a great feeling and makes us cheer each other on my teammates.”
Between the third and fourth sets, Vanable took a pie in the face as part of a fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks in celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
She quickly got cleaned up and guided her team to victory, edging the Mounties 25-23 in the final set. Rogers took an early lead and maintained it until the set’s latter stages, but the padding wasn’t enough to fend off the Tigers.
Bentonville knotted the score four times during the set but didn’t take its first lead until 24-23. The advantage came shortly after Venable called a timeout because her team was down two points late.
“In that huddle, when I called my last time out, we just said ‘ If you have any fear in your heart, let it go, because you know that you have the technical skills to win this game,’ Venable said. “And then they just stepped out and performed, and nobody was scared. They got it done.
Audrey Adair led the Tigers with 20 assists, dishing passes often to Gloria Cranney who led the team with 10 kills. Ella Aprea had 15 digs for Bentonville, and both Victoria Otter and Allison Oliphant had six blocks.
Madison Rhea had a great game defensively with 22 digs for Rogers. Marissa Milbrodt added 12 digs. Brooklyn Weaver, Dahana Tuomala and Hall led with 8, 8, and 7 kills, respectively.
Bentonville has a critical road match at second-place Fort Smith Southside on Thursday, while Rogers will host Fort Smith Northside.
FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 3, SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 0
The Lady Mavericks put together a balanced attack as Gabi DuPree led the way with eight kills, while Lydia Pitts and Sophia Neihouse added seven each in a 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 win over the Lady Wildcats.
Kennedy Meadors dished out 18 assists and Mileah Neal added 16 for Southside. Tinsley Freeman added 12 digs and five aces, while DuPree also chipped in 12 digs and Jaclyn Evans 11.
Korlynn Hall led Har-Ber with 11 kills, while Galatia Andrew finished with a match-high 22 digs.
BENTONVILLE WEST 3, ROGERS HERITAGE 0
Riley Richardson and Trinity Luckett were a nice 1- 2 punch at the net to help the Lady Wolverines (16-14, 6-6 6A-West) sweep the Lady War Eagles 25-18, 25-13, 25-16 in a 6A-West Conference match Tuesday.
Richardson finished with 15 kills, while Luckett added 13 for Bentonville West. Ava Bennett served up 6 of West’s 12 aces. Ana Bastos also anchored the defense with 14 digs.
SHILOH CHRISTIAN 3, OZARK 0
The Lady Saints improved to 15-3 overall and 10-0 in the 4A-Northwest Conference with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-20) win over Ozark.
Ryan Russell led the attack with 10 kills. Laila Creighton, Reese Jones and Brooklynn Bonanno combined for 26 assists. Bella Bonanno finished with 10 digs, while Creighton added nine digs.
HACKETT 3, PARIS 0
The Lady Hornets improved to 20-1 overall with a 25-22, 25-21, 25-15 win over Paris.
GREENWOOD 3, VAN BUREN 0
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 16-2 overall and 9-0 in 5A-West with a 25-19, 25-21, 25-17 win over Van Buren.