BENTON — A late-season forfeit kept Jonesboro from earning a first-round bye in the Class 6A state volleyball tournament, but Lady Hurricane Coach Jennifer Shipman found a few positives in having to play an extra match.
Senior outside hitter Chelsea Hinton made a match-high 15 kills and junior setter Karolina Majewski had nine kills and 13 assists as the Lady Hurricane beat El Dorado 25-13, 25-14, 25-14 in Tuesday's first-round action.
Jonesboro, the defending state champion, would have been the No. 2 seed from the 6A-East, but the Lady Hurricane had to forfeit a match to Sylvan Hills because an uncertified official was used during a Jonesboro home match. The forfeit gave Sylvan Hills the No. 2 seed and left the Lady Hurricane with the No. 3 seed.
Senior setter Shatel Lee led the Lady Hurricane with 19 assists, and sophomore middle hitter Cara Cranford had a team-high four blocks and three aces.
The Lady Hurricane dominated play at the net, but Shipman was not impressed.
"I wasn't happy with Game 1," Shipman said. "I thought our timing was really, really off. But we fixed that."
By the start of the third game, Jonesboro was completely in control. The Lady Hurricane scored the first nine points of the third game and 12 of the first 13.
El Dorado got as close as 15-9 before the Lady Hurricane made its closing run.
"As young as we are, we needed tonight," Shipman said. "I'm really not upset about the seed at all."CLASS 6A TOURNAMENT TUESDAY'S RESULTS Jacksonville def. LR Parkview, 25-18, 25-16, 25-12 Sheridan def. West Memphis, 25-20, 25-17, 25-19 Texarkana def. Mt. Home, 25-10, 25-12, 25-15 Jonesboro def, El Dorado, 25-13, 25-14, 25-14 TODAY'S MATCHES Game 5: Benton vs. Jacksonville, 4 p.m.
Game 6: Sylvan Hills vs. Texarkana, 4 p.m.
Game 7: Marion vs. Sheridan, 6 p.m.
Game 8: Lake Hamilton vs. Jonesboro, 6 p.m.
CLASS 4A TOURNAMENT TUESDAY'S RESULTS CAC def. Fountain Lake 25-12, 25-21, 25-22 Huntsville def. Trumann 25-20, 25-21, 17-25, 25-21 Jonesboro Westside def. Clinton 25-12, 25-13, 25-7 Lonoke def. Pochaontas 25-13, 25-9, 25-5 Mena def. Lutheran 25-10, 25-10, 25-9 Prairie Grove def. Waldron 20-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-19 Union Christian def. Ashdown 25-8, 25-17, 25-15 Valley View def. Gravette 25-3, 25-8, 25-8 TODAY'S MATCHES Game 9: U. Christian vs. Jonesboro WS, 1 p.m.
Game 10: Lonoke vs. Prairie Grove, 1 p.m.
Game 11: Valley View vs. CAC, 3 p.m.
Game 12: Mena vs. Huntsville, 3 p.m.
Sports, Pages 23 on 10/31/2007