SPRINGDALE -- Springdale Har-Ber Coach Cassie Loyd has pushed her hitters to be better since even before the season started. Some of that hard work paid off Tuesday night at Wildcat Arena.
The Lady Wildcats (12-8, 7-2 6A-West) hit a sizzling .363 and had only seven hitting errors in the match en route to a 25-19, 25-21, 25-18 sweep of Bentonville West.
"I think our attacking is something we've been working on since January," Loyd said. "We've been putting pressure on our hitters all season long, saying 'It's not the passer's fault. It's not the setter's fault. Hitters find the floor.' "
And the Lady Wildcats did that all night against the Lady Wolverines, something that made Loyd proud.
"Just seeing their hard work and their growth pay off, getting better and better and better, I think is big," Loyd said. "We hit over .300, which I think was a big number for us.
"Decision-making's getting better. We're not just swinging at the ball to swing and keep the ball in the court. We're swinging to find kills. Just building confidence, too. We have a bunch of hitters who have never played in varsity matches before. Just the confidence they're building in themselves and what they've given each other, that's helping them to get better."
Loyd said her team sits third at the mid-point of conference play. It's almost like starting all over again, Loyd said.
"That's what we told the girls, second round is a clean slate," Loyd said. "Now we have to live in the present playing Bentonville West. So we stepped up to that challenge to be consistent."
Most of the group is learning on the go as libero Galatia Andrew is the only returner with varsity experience, Loyd said. But that's not an excuse, she said.
"It's really rewarding as a coach to see them starting to reach their goals and get better and seeing all their hard work paying off," Loyd said.
Har-Ber scored the first two points and never trailed in the opening set. The Lady Wildcats finally broke away with a 6-1 spurt for a 24-17 lead. Kills by Gracie Mobley and Ridglee Thompson fueled the run along with an ace by Andrew.
Lizzie Sol served up three aces to help the Lady Wildcats grab a 5-0 lead in the second set. Luckett's kill pulled West within 18-17, but the Lady Wolverines got no closer. The third set was more of the same as Mobley's blast down the line gave Har-Ber a 5-1 advantage.
Luckett's kill got West within 15-12 in the third set, but Har-Ber pushed the lead to six and cruised to the win.
Mobley finished with a match-high 12 kills and hit a red-hot .480 with no errors on 25 swings. Brooklyn Ware chipped in seven kills with no errors on 12 swings. Galatia Andrew added 13 digs.
Trinity Luckett and Ana Bastos led West (11-12-1, 4-6) with eight kills each. Riley Richardson added seven. Nandhini Praveen dished out a match-high 30 assists, while Ava Bennett contributed 13 digs.
Fayetteville 3, Bentonville 0
Brooke Rockwell hammered 12 kills to help the Lady Purple'Dogs remain undefeated in 6A-West Conference play with a 25-11, 25-17, 25-10 road win on Tuesday.
Maddie Lafata chipped in nine kills. Kennedy Phelan dished out 25 assists and contributed six aces for Fayetteville, which improved to 9-0 in the league and 16-1 overall.
Fort Smith Southside 3, Rogers 0
The Lady Mavericks had three players in double figures in kills led by Sophia Neihouse with 12 en route to a 25-17, 25-22, 25-12 win over the Lady Mounties.
Gabi DuPree and Tinsley Freeman anchored the defense for Southside. DuPree registered a double-double finishing with a match-high 26 digs to go with 10 kills, while Freeman added 19. Lydia Pitts also chipped in 11 kills.
Shiloh Christian 3, Huntsville 0
The Lady Saints improved to 8-0 in 4A-Northwest play with a 25-8, 25-17, 25-15 win over Huntsville.
Ryan Russell led the attack with 11 kills, while Rylee Kallesen added eight. Savvy Williams contributed 13 digs, while Bella Bonanno added 11. Laila Creighton put up a double-double with 14 assists and 10 digs and Reese Jones dished out 18 assists for Shiloh Christian (13-3).
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