MOUNTAIN HOME — Lake Hamilton found the first round of the Class 6A volleyball state tournament a little tougher than it thought it was going to be as the Lady Wolves needed four games to defeat Little Rock Parkview 25-11, 25-12, 14-25, 25-10 on Tuesday at Mountain Home High School.
After more than doubling Parkview’s point total in the first two games, Lake Hamilton (16-5) seemed to let off the gas pedal in the third set when the Lady Patriots took advantage of numerous miscues by the Lady Wolves. But Lake Hamilton recovered to easily win the fourth and final set.
“We do have a very young team this year, and I think we maybe lost focus there for a little bit,” Lake Hamilton Coach Karen Smith said. “I think after we won those first two games we thought that we had the match won and just let up. We did regain our focus and finish up strong in that fourth game.”
Lake Hamilton looked strong early in the match, scoring the first seven points and leading 10-2 on seven kills and block. Sophomore Lori Bullard led the way with three kills during the run.
The Lady Wolves took their first double-digit lead on a kill by Melissa Chunn and led 21-7 after kills by Kayla Bullard and Alexis Jessup, another sophomore. Parkview closed to within 22-11 when Lake Hamilton scored the game’s final three points, winning on an ace by Kori Bullard.
Parkview kept the second game a little closer early on, leading 3-2 on a kill by Kristen Jones before falling behind 7-3. An ace by Aujontaie Daniels pulled Parkview within 7-5 before the Lady Wolves responded with a 9-0 run, going up 16-5 on a kill by Kayla Bullard after four service aces by Madie Blancaflor. It was 19-7 on a kill by Kori Bullard, Lakes Hamilton’s largest lead until scoring the final three points to finish the second set.
Sports, Pages 26 on 10/26/2011