SPRINGDALE -- Rogers High lost the momentum briefly in dropping the third set, but bounced back strong to claim a 3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17) win over Mount St. Mary in the first round of the Class 7A state volleyball tournament Tuesday at Har-Ber Wildcat Arena.
The Lady Mounties (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 blast 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. Middles Emily Harris and Alex Parish chipped in eight and seven, respectively.
Rogers will now face Conway, the top seed out of the Central, at 2 p.m. today 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, the Belles (18-16) went on a 9-0 run with junior Ellie Deer at the service line to rally for the win.
"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.
"I wasn't too concerned going to a fourth set; it was just us bouncing back and playing consistent, which we've been bad at. But we did a good job. We rebounded and sided out and played our game. The kids get nervous; I get it. It's state, and they haven't played much. I thought we did a great job tonight."
Senior setter Madison Sherrill contributed 54 assists and a team-high 15 digs, while Anna Randels chipped in 13. Harris also added six blocks.
St. Mary coach Lane West said her team has 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 seven kills, two aces and five 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 win over Bentonville West.
The Mavericks (27-7), the No. 3 seed from the Central, now advance to take on host Springdale Har-Ber, the No. 2 seed from the West, in a quarterfinal match at 4 p.m. today.
Southside coach Steve Haaser, who picked up his 959th career victory, was pleased with how his team performed in the state tournament opener.
"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 having played."
Madison Teal chipped in seven kills and three blocks, while sophomore Emily Bass added a team-high 14 digs and three 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 win in the fifth set en route to the 17-25, 25-14, 25-20, 17-25, 15-12 upset win over Fort Smith Northside.
Van Buren (14-14), the No. 5 seed from the West, will now 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.
Van Buren coach Brent Reeves said his team fought hard with its season on the line, after losing 3-0 to the Lady Bears in the final regular-season match Thursday.
"We played a lot better," Reeves said. "Thursday night, there's obviously not a lot on the line. Tonight I think they felt like something was on the line.
"The first game I thought we started off really slow. Then toward the end we picked up a little momentum. I saw a little spark in them. From then on they really fought hard all night. Northside fought hard, too."
Hattie Morrison and Bekah Olienyk chipped in 12 kills each for the Pointers, while Morrison added 12 digs.
Chloe Fitzgerald, a 6-0 junior middle, led the Lady Bears, the No. 4 seed from the Central, with 12 kills. Sophomore Nakiah Willis added five blocks, and Sydney Green contributed a match-high 26 digs.
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