SILOAM SPRINGS — Bentonville began its second tour through the 7A/6A-West on a winning note Tuesday against Siloam Springs.
The Lady Tigers, who were coming off their only conference loss last Thursday against Fayetteville, got off to a slow start but kicked it into gear and swept the Lady Panthers 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-21) at the Panther Activity Center.
Bentonville head coach Michelle Smith said there wasn’t any linger effects of the loss to Fayetteville that contributed to her team’s slow start.
“They weren’t thinking about Fayetteville,” she said. “If anything we weren’t thinking about Siloam enough. We were not thinking at all. We were out there playing and going through the motions.”
Siloam Springs (5-10, 3-5 7A/6A-West) took a 9-8 lead in game one, including eight of those nine Lady Panther points coming on Lady Tiger errors.
Sophomore setter Haley Seyfarth got the Lady Tigers going in the right direction. She found a hole in the Lady Panthers defense and slipped a kill through to tie the game. That started a 5-0 Bentonville run. Seyfarth, Haley McNee and Ariel Hornsby each had kills down the stretch for the win.
Bentonville (16-4, 7-1) shot out to an 11-3 lead in game two and cruised to the win. Siloam Springs put up a fight in game three and tied the game at 14 after an ace from Taylor Gay. But Bentonville scored six of the next seven points to go up 20-15. Siloam Springs got back within 20-18 when Mirna Torres pushed one past the Lady Tigers defense, but Bentonville scored five of the next eight points to take the match.
Siloam Springs coach Rose Cheek said she was “super proud” of the Lady Panthers’ effort in game three.
“In game three, they loosened up and they started getting some blocks,” Cheek said. “Rebekah Hill and Mayse Pippin came in and set some really good blocks, and that helped Baily Cameron and that helped Mirna.”
Lauren Cook led Siloam Springs with seven kills, while Ashley Avery had 11 assists. Bailey Bolinger led with nine digs.
McNee led the Lady Tigers with 13 kills, while Seyfarth had 27 assists. Emily Bruce led with 15 digs, while Hornsby had three solo blocks and Sabrina Shepard had two solo blocks.
Siloam Springs plays at conference leader Fayetteville on Thursday, while Bentonville hosts Springdale Har-Ber.