HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL

Arkansas High, Liberty-Eylau

and Pleasant Grove,

MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark.— Arkansas High suffered a tough 25-9, 25-16, 25-19 loss to Siloam Springs on Tuesday in the opening round of the Class 6A state volleyball tournament.

Mary Alexander and Aubreyonia Sanders led the Lady Backs with five points each. McHailey Grant posted three blocks and six kills. Adasia Davis added four kills and 10 digs, while Andrea Stuckey contributed eight assists.

“Going into the game, we knew our offense needed perform strongly, but we were not able to get it rolling like

we needed to against a good defensive team,” AHS head coach Brandy Crawford said. “(Siloam Springs) had some strong senior players on the floor at middle blocker, outside hitter, libero, and right specialist who were able to make big things happen for them. After getting off to a shaky first set, we just weren’t able to capture any momentum.”

Despite the loss, Crawford is pleased with the way her team fought this season and looks forward to building on that foundation for next year.

“Going into the tourney this year, we were inexperienced with only two players back that played front row only on varsity last year,” Crawford said. Next year, we will have seven seniors all with a year of varsity experience under their belt, so we are hoping the outcome will be much different.

“I am pleased with the winning season and a third-place conference finish this season. However, we will be setting our goals for next season much higher.”