CENTERTON -- Bentonville West rallied from a 10-point deficit to take the third set en route to a 3-1 win over rival Bentonville High on Tuesday night to close out 6A-West Conference play at Wolverine Arena.
Kortney Puckett hammered 20 kills and served up six aces as the Lady Wolverines (17-15, 9-5) earned a 25-15, 19-25, 26-24, 25-21 victory.
West also secured the No. 3 seed in next week's state tournament.
Bentonville (16-16, 10-4) will be the No. 2 seed from the West, but looked to have momentum in the third set with a 19-9 lead. But West persevered and slowly got momentum back to tie it at 21.
West even had set point, leading 24-22 after Puckett's ace, but the Lady Tigers roared back to tie on kills by Savanna Riney and Trinity Hamilton.
But West scored the next two for the win. The Lady Tigers started strong in the fourth set, too, grabbing a 5-1 lead. But West fought back to close out the match.
Emerson Traweek added 14 kills and three aces for the Lady Wolverines, while Baylee Lester had a team-high 13 digs. Setter Lexi Carter also dished out 25 assists.
Riney led Bentonville with 15 kills and 10 digs, while Hamilton added 10 kills. Kloey Eakin also had a team-high 20 digs for the Lady Tigers.
Both teams were playing without starters because of concussions. The Lady Wolverines were missing libero Shea O'Brien, while the Lady Tigers were without the service of setter Meagan Atchison. Both are expected to be back for next week's state tournament.
West coach Julie Rowan had faith in her team to regain their composure in that big third set. She opted not to call timeout.
"We were getting in system and able to get our big hitters the ball," Rowan said. "I know even the ref thought I was calling a timeout when I was calling for a sub. I just wanted to put it on them and make them dig it out. I'm so proud of them that the did.
"We had trouble in serve receive and Shea O'Brien was out and she's a key to that. We just didn't have our groove for a while, but they were serving tough at us. Our setters did a good job of getting our hitters the ball when we needed to come back."
Springdale High 3, Van Buren 2
The Lady Bulldogs closed the season on a positive note with a 25-19, 19-25, 25-15, 16-25, 15-8 win against Van Buren.
Zoe Schmidt hammered 16 kills, had 29 digs and 2 blocks to pace Springdale (10-14-1, 4-10 6A-West). Lauren Bench had 13 kills, 2 blocks, 15 assists, 3 aces and 17 digs. Faith Morgan added 7 kills, 2 blocks, 22 assists, 14 digs, and Amaya Johnson put down 7 kills. Jesslynn Wells had 6 assists, 5 aces, 49 digs, and Lillie Cooper had 14 digs.
Alex Dupree led Van Buren with 13 kills, while Mikelle Porter dished out 25 assits.
Springdale Har-Ber 3, Fayetteville 1
The conference champion Lady Wildcats won their 13th consecutive league match in a 25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 25-13 decision over three-time defending state champion Fayetteville.
Har-Ber (21-6, 13-1) is the No. 1 seed from the West in next week's Class 6A state tournament in Bentonville.
Jayci Carpenter put down 21 kills with 10 digs to lead the Lady Wildcats. Mackenzie White had 14 kills and Skylar Fernandez added 19 assists, 12 digs and 3 aces.
Rogers High 3, Rogers Heritage 0
Freshman Ryley Martin hammered 9 kills, while Anna Randels added seven to lead the Lady Mounties to a sweep of crosstown rival Rogers Heritage.
The Lady Mounties will be the No. 6 seed in the state tournament next week. Randels also had a team-high eight digs and four aces.
6A-Central
Fort Smith Southside 3, Fort Smith Northside 0
Sophomore Avery Fitzgerald hammered 14 kills to lead the Mavericks to a 25-13, 25-11, 25-14 win over crosstown rival Fort Smith Northside.
Hannah Holland added eight kills and three blocks, while sophomore Hannah Hogue contributed six kills, 14 assists and 13 digs for Southside (28-3, 14-0 6A-Central). Emily Bass also added 18 digs for the Mavericks, who wrapped up an undefeated run through the 6A-Central.
5A-West
Greenbrier 3, Siloam Springs 2
Greenbrier wrapped up the No. 2 seed from the 5A-West Conference with a 25-19, 20-25, 26-28, 18-25, 15-6 victory to spoil senior night at Siloam Springs on Tuesday night.
Olivia Parker led Greenbrier (24-5-1, 10-3) with 13 kills, while Kenley Mobley had 11 kills and seven aces and Kyndal Johnston had 25 assists.
Ellie Lampton led Siloam Springs (17-11-1, 9-4) with 21 kills and 18 digs. Chloe Price had six kills, six aces and 35 assists. Kelsey Lewis had 18 digs and Mackenzie Cook 10 digs.
The Lady Panthers can earn the No. 3 seed in the league with a win at Russellville on Thursday.
Sports on 10/17/2018