CENTERTON -- Bentonville West came up with a balanced attack to down Rogers Heritage 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 25-21) in 6A-West Conference volleyball Thursday night at Wolverine Arena.
Kortney Puckett hammered a match-high 16 kills, but she got help as senior Avery Kniss and sophomore Reagan Ptacek chipped in 10 kills apiece for the Lady Wolverines (3-10, 2-3 6A-West).
Bentonville West broke from a 4-4 tie in the fourth set with four straight points and never trailed again. The 6-foot Puckett picked up several kills in the latter part of the final set to help West close out the match.
West coach Julie Rowan was especially pleased with the play of freshman Trinity Luckett and Kaia Tennis in the middle. The Lady Wolverines' blocking also showed improvement, Rowan said.
[Visit the photo gallery from the game Thursday night]
"Kaia is a senior who is stepping into the middle, and I thought she did a really good job just controlling the middle of the court," Rowan said. "Trinity Luckett, the timing is getting there. She's gonna be a beast. It's nice to see her and our setter connect a little bit better tonight.
"I was so happy with our blocking. It's been a point this past week and then our secondary defense, and I felt like both of them really stepped it up. It's timing and reading. We have young girls who just haven't played at the speed so much, so it's taking a while. But they're getting it together. Heritage is just so scrappy. They kept so many balls alive."
Ptacek enjoyed a nice all-around evening with 13 digs and five aces, while setter Ally McCasland dished out 40 assists. Libero Nicole Zimmerman had a team-high 18 digs.
Alli Edward led Heritage (6-6, 1-4) with a double-double, registering 11 kills and 11 digs. Kayley McClain added 4 aces. Brittney Ware had a match-high 22 digs, and Ava Cate Cameron dished out 33 assists.
Heritage coach Lindsey Biocic liked the way her team battled but said they just came up short.
"I'm proud of the girls for fighting," Biocic said. "We've just got to all get on the same page."
Bentonville High 3, Rogers High 2
Savanna Riney capped a 24-kill performance with 3 of Bentonville's final 4 points as the Lady Tigers held off Rogers for a 17-25, 29-27, 25-19, 18-25, 15-8 victory in King Arena.
Bentonville (9-4, 3-1) never trailed in the decisive fifth set as Maddie Breed and Ava Hoyord each had 2 kills and helped the Lady Tigers build an 8-3 cushion.
Hoyord and Trinity Hamilton added 11 kills apiece, while Hoyord had 4 blocks and Hamilton was one of four players in double-digit digs with 16. Taylor Shapley had a team-high 41 assists and 17 digs, while Kloey Eakin added 29 digs and Jamie Myrick 11.
Gracie Carr led a trio of players in double-digit kills for Rogers (5-9, 1-3) with 14, followed by Abby Harris with 12 and Riley Martin with 10. Lilly Dennis and Cam Brockhoff contributed 23 and 15 assists, respectively, while Brooke Park had 25 assists and Dennis 12.
Fayetteville 3, Springdale 0
Fayetteville rebounded from a loss to Bentonville by sweeping Springdale (25-21, 25-9, 25-13).
Rosana Hicks had 14 kills and Amelia Whatley 10 kills for the Lady Purple Bulldogs (12-2, 4-1).
Amaya Johnson and Rachel Moore had 5 kills each for Springdale (3-8, 0-5), and Matty Cong Gum and Maddie Downing had 8 blocks each. Hannah Ogle had 8 assists.
Springdale Har-Ber 3, Van Buren 1
Kyler Greenlee finished with a match-high 14 kills, while sophomore Kat Cooper added 13 to lead the Lady Wildcats to a 25-16, 1725, 25-18, 25-21 6A-West Conference win.
Cooper added 4 blocks, while Caylan Koons contributed 26 assists and 4 aces for Har-Ber, which now leads the league at 5-0. Libero Trinity Sharp picked up 29 digs, and Natalie Williams chipped in 9 kills.
Madalyn Doolittle led Van Buren with 12 kills, while Zoe Morrison added 10. Brianna Ball dished out 23 assists.
Fort Smith Northside 3, Mount St. Mary 0
Junior Hannah Hogue earned a double-double with 32 assists and 10 digs to help the Mavericks to a 25-18, 25-22, 25-9 win.
Avery Fitzgerald finished with a team-high 14 kills, while Toree Tiffee added 6 kills and 10 digs for Southside (9-4, 4-1 6A-Central).
Greenwood 3, Russellville 0
Greenwood had three different players with 9 kills each to lead the Lady Bulldogs to a 25-14, 25-14, 25-12 win over the Lady Cyclones.
Larkin Luke, Camryn Presley, and Caylee Ciesla had 9 kills each. Presley added 3 aces and 2 blocks for Greenwood (9-5, 3-1 5A-West).
Sports on 09/20/2019