CENTERTON -- Rogers High made sure it had reserved a spot in the Class 7A state volleyball tournament later this month, while Bentonville West had its plans put on hold for a few days.
The Lady Mounties clinched their postseason berth Thursday night as they turned the tables on the Lady Wolverines and claimed a 3-0 sweep during 7A-West Conference action in Wolverine Arena. It was sweet revenge for a 3-0 loss Rogers suffered on its home floor to West last month.
"I told our girls we had to win," Rogers coach Christina Lawrence said after the 25-17, 25-14, 25-22 decision. "So we were going to find a way to win, or we're going to go home and not go to state.
"It was a great job for our team to handle the pressure. We passed much better and it was a different lineup. I don't think I've done the same lineup all year, so it's been tough. We're just hoping to peak at the end."
Emily Harris had eight kills for Rogers (12-19, 5-8), which can finish no worse than fifth and can still climb to the No. 4 seed if the Lady Mounties can sweep Springdale High in Tuesday's match. That would give Rogers a tie-breaker advantage since Springdale won the first meeting by a 3-1 margin last month.
Meanwhile, West (13-18, 4-9) continued to struggle on its home court. The Lady Wolverines can still get into postseason play for the second time in as many years, but they will have to beat Bentonville High on its home floor Tuesday night or have Fayetteville defeat Van Buren.
"A couple of our girls did OK, and defensively we were fighting for balls," West coach Julie Rowan said. "A couple of our hitters lost their confidence, so we had to make some changes that we didn't anticipate making.
"Rogers served really well. I think that's what they did best and not let us in our system. One thing I would like to see at this point of the season is our hitters have the confidence to score points."
Hannah Martin and Allie Stephens each had five kills and Madelyn Tauai delivered 16 aces for Rogers, which used a 10-2 run to pull away in the first set and scored 11 unanswered points to control the second set. The Lady Mounties owned an 18-11 lead in the third set, but West pulled within 23-22 on Winnie Spurlock's ace before Martin used a kill and a push to close out the match.
Kortney Puckett had nine kills and Kerryann Ptacek added five for the Lady Wolverines, while Makenna Holmquist -- one of two seniors playing their last home match -- had three aces.
Bentonville High 3, Rogers Heritage 0
The Lady Tigers secured the No. 1 seed from the 7A-West with a 25-17, 25-18, 25-13 win over Rogers Heritage at War Eagle Arena.
Tymber Riley led Bentonville (23-4, 12-1 7A-West) with nine kills and 16 digs -- both match highs. Emma Palasak added eight kills, while Tori Lowry chipped in 11 digs. Baylee Bargainer contributed 35 assists.
Lora Brown led Heritage (5-22-1, 0-13) with six kills,w while Berenice Morales added 10 digs.
Springdale Har-Ber 3, Van Buren 0
The Lady Wildcats remained in sole possession of second place in the 7A-West with a road sweep of Van Buren Thursday. Har-Ber's win streak now sits at an even 10 matches.
Jayci Carpenter added a team-high 16 kills for Har-Ber and Lauren Thompson pitched in 11 to go along with 13 digs. Kaitlyn Schemel contributed 19 digs, Natalie Williams finished with 19 assists and Halle Roberts had three blocks in the win.
Har-Ber closes out conference play on Tuesday against Rogers Heritage.
Fayetteville 3, Springdale High 0
Fayetteville rebounded from its loss at Springdale Har-Ber Tuesday with a sweep on the Lady Red'Dogs' Senior Night. Fayetteville improved to 10-3 in the 7A-West with the win.
Haley Warner led the Lady Purple'Dogs with 24 kills and Ella May Powell added 10 kills and 25 assists. Carley Galloway had a team-high 15 digs. Springdale was led by Jessie Davis' four kills, 10 digs and KeKe Turner's six kills and two aces. Aliyah Brown also finished with 11 assists and four digs.
Fayetteville closes out conference play on Tuesday against Van Buren while Springdale travels to Rogers High.
Shiloh Christian 3, West Fork 0
The Lady Saints made it 62 straight conference wins on Thursday, sweeping West Fork 25-8, 25-12, 25-11.
Lex Richards hammered down seven kills and 14 digs for Shiloh Christian (19-12, 14-0 4A-1 Conference). Taylor Larson had 19 digs and Alex Bottorff had 15. The Lady Saints also got 13 assists and five aces from Hattie McDonald, and Kate Turpin added five aces.
Shiloh Christian will compete in the 4A-1 District Tournament in Lincoln next week.
Sports on 10/13/2017