SPRINGDALE -- Springdale Har-Ber started slow against Conway, but came back strong to notch a 17-25, 25-14, 25-15, 25-23 win Tuesday night in Wildcat Arena.
Conway (4-3) jumped in front of an error-plagued Har-Ber team 8-0 in the opening set en route to the win, but Har-Ber didn't trail much in the final three sets to claim the rematch from last year's Class 7A state semifinals, also won by Har-Ber.
Lady Wildcats coach Shyrah Schisler said her team remained composed.
"They didn't get overwhelmed," Schisler said. "They knew Conway was going to come out hard. One thing I love about this team is they stay patient. They don't get frazzled. They don't look at each other and want someone else to do it. They are learning to take it themselves.
"I think our defense picked up a lot and I thought our serving was aggressive. We made sure when we passed, we passed efficience so we were able to get Natalie a good ball."
Har-Ber (7-2) served up 11 aces, including 10 in the final three sets. That's a change from last year's state runner-up team, Schisler said.
"We stunk at serving last year, so I said 'we're not going to be that team this year,'" Schisler said. "We worked really hard on being good, aggressive servers. It was more errors than I wanted tonight, but you've going to give and take some."
Senior outside hitter Lauren Thompson put up a double-double and led the way for the Har-Ber attack with a match-high 22 kills, but she had help. Junior Jayci Carpenter and sophomore Mackenzie White chipped in 11 kills each. Junior middle Halle Roberts added nine.
Senior Kaitlyn Schemel anchored the Lady Wildcats' defense with a match-high 17 digs.
Conway coach Laura Crow said the difference was definitely Har-Ber's aggressive serving that kept the Lady Wampus Cats out of system quite a bit in the last three sets.
"That's usually our strength, so we'll go back and focus on that," Crow said. "They had trouble getting in an offensive rhythm in that first set, but they changed that in the next couple of sets."
Junior outside hitter Satera Scott led Conway with nine kills, while Kendahl Davenport, a 6-2 senior, and senior middle Marlee Scaife added eight kills each. Megan Solberg led the defense with 16 digs.
Har-Ber opens 7A-West Conference play on Thursday by hosting Rogers High.
Fort Smith Northside 3, Rogers Heritage 0
The Lady Bears finished strong to claim a 25-19, 25-18, 25-9 win over the Lady War Eagles on Tuesday night.
Brooklynn Head led Heritage (3-4-1) with five kills. Berenice Morales also contributed 20 digs and Jacklyn Neff added 14 assists.
Carl Junction, Mo. 3, Rogers High 0
Hannah Martin put down a team-high 14 kills in the Lady Mounties' 25-19, 25-15, 25-22 loss at Carl Junction, Mo., on Tuesday.
Anna Randels added 13 digs and three aces for Rogers (4-4), while Maddie Tauai contributed nine assists.
Sports on 08/30/2017