ROGERS -- A young Rogers High team is still searching for consistency, but the Lady Mounties were strong from the service line to pick up a see-saw 3-1 (27-25, 18-25, 25-9, 25-18) 6A-West Conference win over Bentonville West on Thursday night at King Arena.
Rogers kept West's offense out of system much of the night, serving up 17 aces collectively.
Junior Gracie Carr finished with seven aces in the match, but she gave the Lady Mounties (4-8, 1-2 6A-West) a big blast of momentum with a 6-0 start to the third set. Rogers rode that fast start to an easy win in the third set. But West (2-8, 1-2) got off to an 8-1 lead in the fourth set before the Lady Mounties awakened.
Rogers slowly inched back and tied the set at 10 when Carr banged a kill off the block. Several West errors fueled an 8-0 Rogers run turning a 10-8 deficit into a 16-10 advantage. The Lady Mounties went on to claim their first league win of the season.
Rogers coach Christina Lawrence said her team stayed tough, despite some inconsistency which allowed the Lady Mounties to earn the win.
"We're really, really young so those pressure situations are tough," said Lawrence, who doesn't start a senior. "I think tonight there were times where they let it bother them, but they did a good job at coming back and making smart plays.
"People got pulled out and put back in, and they stepped up, and they picked their heads up. They just kept working, and that's all I want them to do is work hard. That's been our focus, and I think that's the first game of the season that we've actually done that it really helped us pull out the W."
Carr finished with a solid night all around with seven kills, eight digs and seven aces, while sophomore Abby Harris added a team-high 11 kills.
It was Harris who helped Rogers claim a hard-fought first set with her strong net play. The Lady Mounties turned away a pair of set points before Harris sandwiched two kills around an ace by Phoenix Bailey for a 27-25 win.
Lilly Dennis finished with a team-best 13 assists, while junior libero Brooke Park contributed 13 digs.
Kortney Puckett led West with eight kills and three aces, while Ally McCasland dished out 19 assists. Kaia Tennis added two aces, but her service game helped propel the Lady Wolverines to the second-set win.
Springdale Har-Ber 3, Springdale High 0
Kat Cooper and Kyler Greenlee finished with nine kills apiece to lead the Lady Wildcats (8-3, 3-0 6A-West) to a 25-14, 25-9, 25-11 win over crosstown rival Springdale High.
Caylan Coons dished out 20 assists, while Skylar Fernandez added 16 assists and four aces.
Amaya Johnson had 3 kills for the Lady Bulldogs (3-6, 0-3) and Jortaka George added 9 digs. Beth Kobeney and Maddie Downing added 8 digs each.
Bentonville 3, Rogers Heritage 0
The Lady Tigers rolled to a 25-17, 25-14, 25-16 win in 6A-West Conference play on Thursday.
Allison Edwards and Ashley Ware led Heritage with four kills each, while Britney Ware added 10 digs.
Fayetteville 3, Van Buren 0
Fayetteville completed its third consecutive sweep in conference play by defeating Van Buren (25-23, 25-17, 25-23).
Gracyn Spresser had 29 digs for the Lady Bulldogs (11-1, 3-0), who've won nine consecutive since losing to Fort Smith Southside.
Grace Doolittle led Van Buren with nine kills, while Zoe Morrison added eight. Brianna Ball also dished out 20 assists.
Ozark Catholic 3, Prism Education Center 0
Ozark Catholic improved to 3-3 with a 25-18, 25-17, 25-9 win over Prism Education Center on Thursday.
Sports on 09/13/2019
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