BENTONVILLE -- Conway finally found a way to get past Springdale Har-Ber in the Class 6A state volleyball tournament.
The Lady Wampus Cats, who lost to Har-Ber in the semifinals each of the past two years, were too much for the Lady Wildcats on Thursday afternoon at Tiger Arena.
The trio of Karli Ferguson, Satera Scott and Emma Begley combined for 26 kills to lead Conway to a 25-16, 25-29, 25-21 sweep of Har-Ber.
Conway (28-7-1) dominated the opening set, but rallied in each of the final two sets to close out the match thanks to the combination of a fast offense and great defense.
Har-Ber, the 6A-West Conference champion, grabbed a 16-11 lead in the second thanks to senior outside hitter Jayci Carpenter. But the Lady Wampus Cats went on a 14-3 run to seize control of the match.
Conway used a 7-3 surge in the third set to turn a 16-14 deficit into a 21-18 lead en route to the victory.
Conway Coach Laura Crow said she likes to utilize the middle attack, but passing has to be good in order to do that. The Lady Wampus Cats were precise with their passes against Har-Ber.
"It's a quick attack and the defense doesn't have a lot of time to set up," Crow said. "Our middles were doing great so we were like 'feed 'em.'
"We knew it would be a fight today. I've been watching these girls come through the program at Conway since they were in the seventh grade. We have 10 seniors and they have great chemistry out there together."
Ferguson, a 5-10 senior, led Conway with 11 kills to go with 3 solo blocks, while Scott, a 5-7 outside hitter, added 8 and Begley had 7 kills and 3 solo blocks.
Jastyn Vickers led the Conway defense with eight digs, but she had lots of help as Ferguson, Madison Lovell and Matti Fairchild chipped in with seven each.
Har-Ber Coach Shyrah Schisler said Conway's size at the net combined with their defense were too much to overcome.
"Very good blocking team and they are a very good offensive team," Schisler said. "We were very challenged for as small as we are to play with a team like that. They played great defense and made some plays that definitely out-gritted us at times.
"They were out for blood and we knew that. We did some things that were out of character for us today. But it made us better. We learned a lot about ourselves that when situations are tough we have to find a little bit more strength and dig a little deeper."
Senior outside hitter Jayci Carpenter led Har-Ber (22-7) with a match-high 15 kills, while Mackenzie White added eight. Lauren Cloud dished out 15 assists, while libero Molly Kingston contributed a match-high 16 digs.
FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 3,
BENTONVILLE 0
The Mavericks surged late in the first two sets, then hit the accelerator to cruise to a 25-18, 25-22, 25-9 semifinal victory.
Southside (31-3) led only 16-15 in the opening set, but outscored Bentonville (18-17) 9-3 to pull away for the win. The Mavericks then trailed 20-18 in the second set, but scored seven of the last nine points to rally for the 2-0 advantage.
The 6A-Central conference champions had no problems in the final set, jumping to a 9-1 lead and rolling to the win. The Mavericks also gave Coach Steve Haaser the perfect birthday gift -- a shot at his ninth state title.
But Haaser credited senior libero Emily Bass with helping the Mavericks get going in that third set with an 11-0 service run.
"That's two days in a row where Emily Bass has got back there and got on a roll," Haaser said. "She's got a really tough serve and got them in and I think her serving just kept them from getting any kind of an attack."
Sophomore Avery Fitzgerald finished with a match-high 21 kills and 3 aces, while Bass added 4 aces and 12 digs. Hannah Hogue and Sarah Tolbert each came up with double-doubles. Hogue contributed 10 assists and 14 digs along with 3 kills, while Tolbert had 14 assists and 10 digs.
Bentonville Coach Michelle Smith said she was proud of her team, but Southside's defense was too much.
"Southside's defense was unreal today," Smith said.
"As far as our offense, you can only swing so much until the steam gets sucked out of you. So kudos to Southside and their defense because nothing was dropping on their side."
"For us to be in the final four with a very young team, I think, is a huge accomplishment and I'm so proud of these girls."
Sports on 10/26/2018