Gravette Ousted From State Tourney

— A slow start for Gravette was simply too much to overcome on Tuesday.

The Lady Lions found themselves in too much trouble early and often as Waldron defeated Gravette 25-16, 25-22, 25-19 in the first round of the Class 4A State Volleyball Tournament in the Brandon Burlsworth Youth Center.

Waldron (18-10) took advantage of some early Gravette mistakes, passed the ball effectively throughout the game and had an impressive showing on defense to get the victory. The Lady Bulldogs will play Pulaski Academy at noon today in the quarterfinals.

“It was a tough game, we were fighting an uphill battle the entire time,” Gravette coach Robin Cannon said. “But to get to this point, I was proud of my girls. We fought hard, we never gave up and we showed that we have a lot of promise for the future.”

Waldron jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the third set and later had a five-point run when Taylor Farmer had an ace and senior middle hitter Jacy Allen had a kill.

Gravette (15-7) later responded with a couple scoring runs of its own, which included an ace from server Taylor Kean, but the effort was too late as Waldron won 25-16 to win the match.

“I think getting that first set really set the pace for us,” Waldron coach Monique Gorman said. “We settled down after that, we started playing even better and it helped us get the victory.”

Gorman was especially pleased with her team’s passing, which she said is the key for the Lady Bulldogs to keep being successful.

In the second set, Waldron showed how effective its passing can be when it setup kills for Farmer and Allen. The Lady Bulldogs also capitalized on several service points from Farmer.

“It boils down to playing effectively and staying focused, and that’s what we did (Tuesday),” Gorman said. “It’s my hope we can keep that going for the next round.”

Farmington def. Booneville 3-0

Farmington won its first-ever state volleyball match by sweeping past Booneville in Tuesday’s first round. The Lady Cardinals (19-6) will play Valley View at noon today in the quarterfinals.

Farmington coach Jessica McCollough said her team executed with its passing and didn’t have many mistakes in the victory.

“Our girls seemed a little nervous at first, but we came out and played very well,” McCollough said. “We did the little things we had to do in order to get the win.”

McCollough said junior Breanna Jones played well from the middle while Kala Crisp had some impressive passes.

Mena def. Prairie Grove 3-0

Mena jumped out to an early lead in all three sets to easily sweep Prairie Grove. Mena will play Brookland at 2 p.m. today in the quarterfinals.

Mena’s Kaitlyn Mitchel led the Lady Bearcats (19-10) with five kills while Hannah Knittig had a team-high five blocks.

Prairie Grove (7-9) was plagued throughout the match with several miscues. In the third set, the Lady Tigers trailed 16-8 before going on a five-point run.

Shiloh Christian def. Ashdown 3-0

Shiloh Christian made quick work on Tuesday in defeating Ashdown in straight sets.

The Lady Saints (24-4) will play Westside at 2 p.m. today in the quarterfinals.

Leading Shiloh was Makenzie Heithoff with seven kills and Hannah West with five. West has been absent most of the season with a broken foot, but was able to return for Tuesday’s first-round match.

“Having Hannah back, we mixed up our rotation a little and everything worked well,” Shiloh coach Karen Morris said. “We had some great blocks and we passed the ball pretty well.”

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