SPRINGDALE -- Springdale Har-Ber made key plays late in each set to claim a 3-0 (27-25, 25-22, 25-22) win over Fayetteville and earn a first-round bye in next week's Class 6A state volleyball tournament.
The Lady Wildcats (24-7, 12-2 6A-West) turned back a pair of set points in the first set, scored the final three points in the second and trailed 19-18 in the third before rallying to close out the match Tuesday night at Wildcat Arena.
Har-Ber, which avenged an earlier loss to the Lady Purple Bulldogs, will now be the No. 2 seed from the 6A-West in next week's state tournament, while Fayetteville will be the No. 3 seed.
Har-Ber coach Cassie Loyd said the Lady Wildcats did the job staying consistent even if they trailed.
"We talked about Fayetteville is a great team and they're going to go on runs," Loyd said. "We just talked about keeping our side of the court consistent and not getting digging ourselves in big holes. We thought if we did that we'd be successful tonight."
Outside hitters Mackenzie White and Kyler Greenlee led the Har-Ber attack with 14 and 12 kills, respectively, which was also key as Fayetteville's block shadowed Kat Cooper much of the night.
"Kat obviously is one of most effective offensive players, but teams manipulate their block to put a bigger block on her and they release and front her, Loyd said. "So, the last couple weeks it put a lot of pressure on our pins to start putting balls down. I think our pins tonight really hit that and took a lot of pressure off our middles and they got it done for us."
Cooper chipped in with eight kills, while sophomore Caylan Koons finished with eight digs, 23 assists and two aces. Maddux McCrackin led four Lady Wildcats in double figures with 15 digs.
Har-Ber had the answer at the end of each set. Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said her team just didn't finish.
"If you look at it, we did a lot of things well enough to win those sets, but at the same time you have to execute at the end of the set and we didn't," Phelan said. "For us, that has to be the upgrade that we focus on in the next week. Putting them in pressure situations. Tied at 24-24, we have to be maybe more aggressive and want that ball in that situation.
"Just from a mentality standpoint, we have to take this one on the chin and learn from it and upgrade the execution at the end of the game."
Rosanna Hicks shared match honors with 14 kills for Fayetteville (26-6, 11-3), while freshman Kennedy Phelan contributed 11 digs and 32 assists. Libero Gracyn Spresser contributed a match-high 23 digs.
Bentonville High 3, Bentonville West 1
Trinity Hamilton had 16 kills as Bentonville claimed the outright 6A-West Conference title with a 29-27, 25-15, 23-25, 25-15 win over West in Tiger Arena.
Savanna Riney added 12 kills and 13 digs for the Lady Tigers (23-8, 13-1), who already had earned a No. 1 seed and a first-round bye for the Class 6A state tournament next week at Cabot. Kloey Eakin had a team-high 26 digs, while Taylor Shapley contributed 43 assists.
Kortney Puckett had 17 kills and Trinity Luckett added eight for West (8-24, 4-10), which draws the West's No. 6 seed for the state tournament. Ally McCasland added a double-double with 37 assists and 10 digs for the Lady Wolverines.
Riney and Shapley each received a Golden Ball before the match for recording their 1,000th career kill and 1,000th career assist, respectively. Also, Bentonville coach Michelle Smith was recognized for earning her 350th career win over the weekend during a tournament at Blue Valley, Kan.
Van Buren 3, Springdale 0
Grace Doolittle put down 24 kills to lead the Lady Pointers to a 25-23, 25-11, 25-23 win over the Lady Red Bulldogs.
Brianna Ball dished out 35 assists, while Madalyn Doolittle added 19 kills. Brooke Moore contributed 18 digs for the Lady Pointers.
Amaya Johnson had 11 kills for Springdale (6-19, 1-13) and Matt7 Chong Gum had 16 assists. Beth Kobenon added 15 digs.
Fort Smith Southside 3, Fort Smith Northside 0
Avery Fitzgerald finished with 11 kills, 6 aces and 6 digs to lead the Mavericks to a 25-12, 25-19, 25-16 win over crosstown rival Fort Smith Northside.
Hannah Hogue dished out 32 assists, while Kelsey Hamilton added a team-high 10 digs and three aces for Southside, which already had the wrapped up the 6A-Central Conference title and will be the No. 1 seed in next week's state tournament.
Toree Tiffee added eight kills, while Aleigha Johnson added seven kills and two blocks for the Mavericks.
Rogers High 3, Rogers Heritage 2
The Lady Mounties rallied from a 2-1 deficit to claim a 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-9) win over their crosstown rival.
Gracie Carr led the way with 17 kills, while Abby Harris chipped in 11 for Rogers. Brooke Park had a team-high 23 digs, while Carr put up a double-double with 19 digs and Lilly Dennis dished out 18 assists.
Sports on 10/23/2019