SPRINGDALE -- Rogers lost the momentum in dropping the third set, but it bounced back to claim a 25-16, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17 victory over Mount St. Mary in the first round of the Class 7A state volleyball tournament Tuesday at Wildcat Arena.
Rogers (23-13), the No. 4 seed from the West, got offense from a variety of sources and took control with a 7-2 run midway through the fourth set. Junior Hannah Martin book-ended the run, starting with one of her five service aces and ending with a cross-court spike for an 18-12 Rogers advantage.
Kassidy Wall led a balanced attack for Rogers with 11 kills, followed by Martin and Maddie Tauai with nine each. Emily Harris and Alex Parish chipped in eight and seven, respectively.
Rogers will face Conway, the top seed out of the Central, today at 2 p.m. in the quarterfinals.
Rogers Coach Christina Lawrence didn't mind that the match went four sets, even though her team appeared to be headed for a sweep, leading 18-14 in the third. Instead, Mount St. Mary (18-16) went on a 9-0 run with junior Ellie Deer at the service line to rally for the victory.
"Passing went south, but I also subbed. It interferes with their rhythm a little bit," Lawrence said. "But we've got to build a program and get some kids some state tournament experience. My goal tonight was to get all of our seniors on the floor, and we did every set."
Senior setter Madison Sherrill contributed 54 assists and a team-high 15 digs, while Anna Randels chipped in 13. Harris also added six blocks.
Mount St. Mary Coach Lane West said her team started slowly all season. That happened against Rogers as the Belles led only briefly in dropping the first two sets, but West liked the way her team came back.
"Certain things like a good hit or a missed serve, and we get in that little rut," West said. "We struggled with our hits. We gave them way too many free balls."
Senior Lizzie Allgood led the Belles with 7 kills, 2 aces and 5 digs. Lauren Sink chipped in seven kills, and junior Anna Crawford added a team-best eight digs.
Fort Smith Southside def. Bentonville West, 3-0
Senior Mikayla Dietz hammered a match-high 13 kills to lead Fort Smith Southside to a 25-10, 25-12, 25-17 victory over Bentonville West.
The Mavericks (27-7), the No. 3 seed from the Central, advance to take on host Springdale Har-Ber, the No. 2 seed from the West, in a quarterfinal match today at 4.
Southside Coach Steve Haaser, who picked up his 959th career victory, was pleased with how his team performed.
"You've got to take care of business," Haaser said. "Bentonville West played their hearts out. I know they are a young team. It was good to get the jitters out of our system. I kinda like playing, rather than having a bye and sitting and not playing. I'd hate to show up tomorrow and not have played."
Madison Teal chipped in 7 kills and 3 blocks, while sophomore Emily Bass added a team-high 14 digs and 3 aces for Southside.
Rachel Walls led West (6-27) with nine kills, while freshman Kortney Puckett added six. Junior Lauren Hawks had a match-high 19 digs for the Wolverines.
Van Buren def. Fort Smith Northside, 3-2
The Pointers rallied from a 7-3 deficit to claim a 15-12 victory in the fifth set en route to the 17-25, 25-14, 25-20, 17-25, 15-12 upset over Fort Smith Northside.
Van Buren (14-14), the No. 5 seed from the West, will take on Fayetteville, the top seed from the West, at 6 tonight.
Sophomore Alex Dupree finished with a match-high 14 kills, including the final two to give the Pointers the victory. The 5-7 outside hitter tapped one off the Northside block for the 14-12 lead, then cranked one down the line for match point.
Chloe Fitzgerald, a 6-0 junior, led Northside (15-14), the No. 4 seed from the Central, with 12 kills.
Bentonville High def. Cabot, 3-0
Junior Tymber Riley led a balanced attack with 11 kills to lead the Lady Tigers to a 25-19, 25-17, 25-16 win over Cabot.
Bentonville (21-15) will now take on North Little Rock, the No. 2 seed from the Central, at 8 tonight in the final quarterfinal.
The 5-foot-8 Riley did not commit a hitting error and finished at a red-hot .440 to lead an efficient offense for Bentonville, which finished night at .358 as a team. Freshman Savanna Riney chipped in eight kills and Emma Palasak seven.
Bentonville coach Michelle Smith was pleased with how her team performed on the opening day.
"I think we did well after we got the butterflies out," Smith said. "There's pros and cons to the first round. I actually like it because we can go into tomorrow having played a game here."
Bentonville libero Tori Lowry finished with a match-high 16 digs, along with two aces. Riley also served up two aces. Palasak chipped in 12 digs.
Maddie Brown, a 6-0 senior and Arkansas State commit, finished with a match-high 17 kills for Cabot (17-16), the No. 6 seed from the Central.
Sports on 10/26/2016