Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Har-Ber looking to snap skid
SPRINGDALE — Springdale Har-Ber coach Cassie Loyd liked the way her team responded in practice Monday after going 1-3 in the Fort Smith Invitational on Saturday.
But Fort Smith Southside handed the Lady Wildcats a tough three-set loss (25-17, 2521, 25-19) on Tuesday to keep them reeling.
“Not sure what went wrong, but not much went right,” Loyd said of Saturday. “We didn’t come in very focused on the day. We never could quite turn it around once we got ourselves in a hole. Hopefully, we learned from it.”
Loyd was pleased with the team’s attitude on Monday as they were ready to go to work before 7 a.m. Har-Ber has four seniors, all of who play significant roles on the court.
“It was refreshing to see how they responded on Monday,” Loyd said.
“I got after them pretty good on Saturday about accountability, legacy and work ethic.”
MENA Pushing for postseason
Veteran Mena coach Brad Lyle wonders whether his team might be peaking a little early, but he was pleased with how they have performed thus far.
The Lady Cats (15-2) return six key players from a year ago and a seventh, who also played quite a bit, from a team that lost a tough five-set match in the state quarterfinals.
He admits to going back and forth about playing Saturday tournaments and risk vs. the reward. But Lyle said the Saturday at Hot Springs Lakeside two weeks ago was obviously beneficial.
“That was a great day for us because we had to fight and claw from first serve to last serve to win a set,” Lyle said. “I wouldn’t take away what we got from that Lakeside tournament. I was exhausted but we needed it.
I don’t know how far we can get with it, but if we stay hungry, stay healthy and have a whole bunch of lucky breaks and we had all that in ’14 (when they won).”
But he also used the example of the covid year two years ago when there were no Saturday tournaments.
“We were playing as well as we’ve ever played at the end without the Saturday tournaments,” Lyle said. “But then nobody else did either.”
THADEN SCHOOL
Barnstormers on the rise
The Barnstormers (16-5, 10-3 2A-West) lost a couple of starters to graduation from last season, which was a little reason for concern for coach Staci Meyer. But they are off to a nice start after winning the Silver bracket in the Fort Smith Invitational tournament.
“I was a little worried,” Meyer said. “I think it’s made everybody step up a little more. We’re not relying on one player.”
The Class 2A Thaden School notched wins over Harrison and Sylvan Hills, but fell to 6A Fort Smith Northside and Little Rock Central. The Barnstormers were even missing a starter because of covid-19.
Meyer is in her third year at the private school based in Bentonville. It’s also the school’s third year as part of the Arkansas Activities Association. She said the sport of volleyball has grown at the school, particularly in the junior high.
“There were probably 20 or so in the program and we’ve doubled that,” Meyer said. “We have enough for four teams. And our junior high is tied for first in the conference right now.”
The Barnstormers have split with Lifeway Christian this season, which is a team that finished as state runnerup a year ago.
Meyer said she has some good height and athleticism.
“We’ve got players who can play all the way around and several who play different sports,” Meyer said.
The program has its challenges with no gym on campus which limits offseason practice time. The teams practice at the AAO facility in Rogers, which is about a 20-minute drive.
But the school could be getting its own on-campus facility in the next year or so, Meyer said.
BENTONVILLE WEST Needing “killer instinct”
Bentonville West knocked off crosstown rival Bentonville late last week, but coach Julie Rowan said she’s still looking for more from her group after tying for third over the weekend at the Fort Smith Invitational.
The Lady Wolverines lost to Class 5A Benton and Class 3A Hackett, both state title contenders in their classification, on Saturday.
“We were very slow to start against Hackett. They are a very good team. … I think Benton just shocked us,” Rowan said. “We’re always pleased when we make gold (bracket). The day as a whole was good, but we’re looking for more of a killer instinct and we’re still lacking that.”
West improved to 1614 overall and 6-6 in the 6A-West after its win Tuesday at Rogers Heritage. The Lady Wolverines just played a little better the second time against Bentonville, Rowan said. The Lady Tigers defeated West in five sets earlier in the season, but West got the four-set win this time around.
“We made some changes where we were attacking and serving, but the vibe just seemed different,” Rowan said. “We just hope to be able to build some confidence for the state tournament.”