BENTONVILLE — Springdale Har-Ber looked like anything but an underdog Wednesday at the Class 7A state volleyball tournament at Tiger Gymnasium.
The Lady Wildcats, the No. 4 seed from the 7A-West Conference, used their size advantage in the middle and a fast start to dominate 7A-Central top seed Conway 25-18, 25-22, 25-22 in the quarterfinals.
The semifinals will be an all 7A-West affair, with No. 1 seed Fayetteville, No. 2 seed Bentonville and No. 3 seed Fort Smith Southside joining Springdale Har-Ber after quarterfinal victories Wednesday.
Har-Ber Coach Sandy Jones said her team knew it was important to get a fast start against Conway.
“After we talked to a few people about what Conway had, they said Conway liked to run really quick offenses, but if you can get on them in the beginning you’ll have a chance to beat them,” Jones said. “I think that was key. We knew we had to put it at them quickly and serve well and run our plays, and we executed that well.”
The Lady Wildcats (20-13) looked nervous in the opening round Tuesday, but Wednesdayit was the Lady Wampus Cats (19-6) who appeared rattled by a raucous Har-Ber cheering section.
“We don’t have big crowds like this for our volleyball games, but the girls knew it was going to be like that,” Conway Coach Laura Crow said.
While the match only went three games, Har-Ber did have to fight off Conway rallies in the final two. That was especially true in the second game, when the Lady Wampus Cats were within 19-18 before a 4-0 run gave Har-Ber the edge.
Trailing 2-0, Conway still showed plenty of fight in the third game, but another late run by the Lady Wildcats finished off the Lady Wampus Cats.
“I just wish we would have started off playing a little bit better in the first two games,” Crow said. “I felt like our zone serving was a little bit off and our offense was off, but they were smart with their tips and with what they did.”
The Lady Wildcats had balanced production, getting 12 kills from Katie Huff and nine kills each from Marisa Pless and Summer Morgan. Jordan Foley added 16 digs.
Har-Ber advanced to today’s 1 p.m. game against tournament host Bentonville.
“That’s who we want to play, because I think we play at our top when we play Bentonville,” Jones said. “It should be an awesome match.”
Sports, Pages 17 on 10/28/2010