BENTON — Benton- When Brittany Henson got going, so did the Van Buren Lady Pointers.
Henson, a 5-9 outside hitter, made six of her 15 kills in the second game Thursday as the Lady Pointers rallied for a 23-25, 25-13, 25-23, 25-23 victory over Jonesboro in the semifinals of the Class 6A state tournament.
“She’s been a leader for us all year,” Van Buren Coach Stephanie Hill said. “She started out playing in the middle for us because that’s where we needed her. Now she’s playing on the outside and she’s made the transition well.”
Van Buren (22-11) will play 6A-East champion Marion (23-3) in Saturday’s 1 p.m. championship game at Bentonville High School. It will be Van Buren’s first appearance in the volleyball final, and both schools will be going for their first state championship.
Jonesboro has won 10 state titles, more than any program in the state, but the Lady Hurricane (19-8) couldnot close out the match Thursday.
Jonesboro’s 5-4 senior outside hitter Samantha Wyatt led all players with 21 kills. She also had two aces. Junior Nykia Keith had nine kills.
“Van Buren has seen a lot of good competition this year, playing in the 7A-Central,” Jonesboro Coach Craig Cummings said. “We weren’t going to intimidate them. In the end, they just outplayed us.” CLASS 5A
Siloam eyes No. 7
WYNNE - Siloam Springs is returning to the championship game of the Class 5A volleyball state tournament.
The six-time defending Class 5A champions fought off Wynne 27-25, 25-17 and 25-22 on Thursday on the Lady Yellowjackets’ home court in front of nearly 1,500 fans at Wynne High School.
“It was pretty packed,” Siloam Springs Coach Rose Cheek said. “They fought through a hostile crowd, and it wasn’t our prettiest performance, but we got the job done.”
The Lady Panthers (30-8) will play Nettleton (22-4), the No. 2 seed from the 5A-East Conference, at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Class 5A final at Bentonville High School.
Siloam Springs and Nettleton are familiar opponents. Siloam eliminated Nettleton in the semifinals in 2007 and in the quarterfinals in 2008.
Lizzy Briones led Siloam Springswith 22 kills, while Makenzie Sharp and Laken Grigg added eight kills each. Allie Wade had 6 kills, 3 solo blocks and 5 block assists for the Lady Panthers. Sharp also had five block assists.
Lexi Anglin led the Lady Panthers with 16 digs, while Briones added 10, Wade 9 and Ashley Avery 8. Sarah Lowry, Grigg and Sharp combined for 13 digs.
CLASS 4A Shiloh advances
HARRISON - Shiloh Christian’s big front row made it tough on Mena’s hitters as the Lady Saints advanced to their first state title match with a 25-18, 25-18, 25-27, 25-14 victory over the Lady Cats in the semifinals of the Class 4A state tournament.
Shiloh (26-4) will take on Valley View at 7 p.m. Saturday in the title game at Bentonville High. The Lady Blazers have won four of the past six state titles.
Seniors Hannah West and Lindsay Roe and freshman Brittany Butler, all of whom are 6-feet tall, combined for 19 block assists and two solo blocks to help hold Mena (21-11) in check.
Shiloh set the tone in the first two sets, grabbing leads of 11-1 in the opening set and 8-1 in the second.
Mena, which split two matches during the regular season with Shiloh, clawed back to take the third set, but fell behind 10-3 early in the fourth and never seriously threatened the rest of the way.
Senior outside hitter Kaitlyn Mitchell led Mena with 11 kills, while Marissa Willis added 10.
Graham Thomas of the Herald Leader and Paul Boyd of the Morning News contributed to this article.
Sports, Pages 22 on 10/29/2010