Lady Bulldogs Get Their Crown

No. 9

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Fayetteville had come oh so close to winning a state volleyball championship each of the previous two seasons. But despite making their way to the state finals in both 2010 and 2011, the Lady Bulldogs finished as runner-up to Bentonville in both years.

This season, the third time was the charm.

The Lady Bulldogs, led by Gatorade Player of the Year Aubrey Edie and a strong and experienced senior class, finished 35-3 and did not lose a match to an in-state opponent all season. Fayetteville breezed through the 7A/6A-West Conference, then got past nemesis Bentonville in the Class 7A state semifinals.

In the championship match, the Lady’Dogs swept Fort Smith Southside in straight sets to complete the dominant run to the school’s first-ever volleyball state championship.

“For those seniors, winning a state championship was the last thing to check off the list,” Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said. “They had been nationally ranked, they had won conference championships and that was the last thing. And having gotten so close for the past two years, anything less than that championship for those seniors was going to be somewhat of a disappointment.”

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