Bryant Sweeps Heritage

LADY WAR EAGLES’ FIRST TRIP TO STATE TOURNEY CUT SHORT

Kylee Linn (left) and Shelby White (right) of Rogers Heritage block a ball in front of Bryant’s Amber Cope during the War Eagles’ 25-19, 25-17, 25-23 loss to the Hornets on Tuesday during the first round of the Class 7A volleyball tournament in Bentonville.
Kylee Linn (left) and Shelby White (right) of Rogers Heritage block a ball in front of Bryant’s Amber Cope during the War Eagles’ 25-19, 25-17, 25-23 loss to the Hornets on Tuesday during the first round of the Class 7A volleyball tournament in Bentonville.

— Rogers Heritage’s first trip to the Class 7A State Volleyball Tournament was a short one.

Bryant made sure of it.

The Lady Hornets used a strong service game to put Heritage back on its heels early, then scored the final six points to rally and close out the match 25-19, 25-17, 25-23 on Tuesday afternoon in Tiger Arena.

Sophomore Hannah Rice served up seven of Bryant’s 13 aces in the match, which helped keep Heritage out of synch.

Heritage coach Sarah Miser said her team had problems with serve reception the entire match, something that’s unusual for the Lady War Eagles (13-17-3).

“Our serve receive was not well (Tuesday) and that’s usually something we’re good at,” Miser said. “But we didn’t move our feet. But they mixed up their serves, going short and long. Give them credit.”

Three aces by Rice keyed a 6-0 Bryant run in the opening set that turned a 9-7 Heritage lead into a 13-9 deficit. The Lady Hornets, the No. 3 seed from the Central, then went on to the first-set victory.

Bryant (13-6) outscored Heritage 10-2 to break from a 14-14 tie in the second set led by strong net play by high-flying junior Brianna White and sophomore Courtney Davidson. White had a kill, a solo block and two block assists in the run, while Davidson added two kills and two block assists.

Bryant coach Beth Soloman said serving is a definite strength for her team and it paid off Tuesday.

“We’ve got a lot of girls who can spot serve and we focus on it a lot,” Soloman said. “We try to feed off that offensively and that made a huge difference. If we can get the serve there it puts them back on their heels and they can get the ball to their power hitters.”

Davidson and Maggie Hart led a balanced Bryant attack with eight kills each, while White added five kills, two solo blocks and three block assists.

Senior outside hitter Shelby White led Heritage with a match-high 12 kills, while Emily Alderson added seven.

Miser said she thought the Lady War Eagles, who were the No. 6 seed from the West, would loosen up a bit as the match progressed. But it just didn’t happen. Heritage led 22-17 and 23-19 in the third set, but Bryant ended the match with an 8-1 run.

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