CONWAY — Bentonville wasn’t ready to relinquish its title just yet.
The Lady Tigers defeated 7A-West Conference rival Fayetteville 17-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-22 in four tough games Saturday to take home their second consecutive Class 7A state volleyball championship.
Fayetteville (34-2) had been nearly unstoppable all season, losing only to a team out of Kansas and dropping only one game against Arkansas teams this season going into the final.
The Lady Bulldogs won the first game Saturday and looked on their way to a state championship, but Bentonville (32-7) - which lost twice to Fayetteville during the regular season - stormed back to win the final three games in front of a boisterous crowd.
“The difference tonight was our confidence and our heart,” Bentonville Coach Michelle Smith said. “We had a large senior class go out there tonight and not let anything by them.
“We played against a very, very talented and physically tough Fayetteville team that has tended to get into our head a little bit this season. As the season progressed, we slowly gained back that confidence and took care of our side of the net - what we can control - and that paid off in the end.”
With the match tied at one game apiece, Fayetteville pulled out to a 16-11 lead, but Kelsey Parks delivered two kills to go with an illegal touch by Fayetteville to make it 16-14. Jacey Williams and Shayne Wiedemann followed with kills and blocked Fayetteville’s Hannah Pinter to give Bentonville a 17-16 lead.The Lady Tigers added two more points on blocks, but Fayetteville pulled even at 20-20. Wiedemann moved Bentonville to game point with a shot in the corner, and Melissa Bakke’s kill gave Bentonville the game.
Bentonville claimed its third state championship.
“When you have a class of seniors like this that havethat confidence and maturity to take control of the game, when you see that happen you coach and let them do the job on the court,” Smith said. “[Wiedemann] is one of the smartest players to come through this program. She’ll be well-remembered, and her shoes will be tough to fill.
“The program has been building every single year. I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls to share this with.
Wiedemann was named MVP after a 26-kill, 16-dig performance. Bakke, Williams and Rebecca Brown added eight kills each for Bentonville. Riney added 20 digs, while Kelsey Parks added 12.
Sports, Pages 31 on 10/30/2011