BENTONVILLE — Bentonville and Springdale Har-Ber went toe-to-toe in the third set of their 7A/6A-West Conference volleyball match on Thursday night, and nobody wanted to budge.
Hailey McNee then put together the right combination, delivering back-to-back kills to give Bentonville the lead for good, and the Lady Tigers completed a difficult 3-0 sweep over the Lady Wildcats in Tiger Arena.
The third set featured 16 ties, including a 21-21 deadlock when Bentonville coach Michelle Smith called a timeout. McNee, who finished with 11 kills, then delivered her last two to help the Lady Tigers go in front for their 25-22, 25-10, 25-23 victory.
“It was a great match, especially in the first and third sets,” Smith said. “That’s a much-improved Har-Ber team. They have some new players out there, and they’re doing a good job.
“We won in three. Two of the scores were close, but I’m happy with it. The girls’ production was good, and the front row did phenomenal. They cut down on their attacking errors, and that was one of our goals. Defensively, we struggled at times, and we’ll work on that.”
Har-Ber (10-5, 6-3) could have folded after an atrocious second set, in which Bentonville scored 19 of the last 21 points. The Lady Wildcats did the opposite, even though Alex Molitor’s three straight kills gave the Lady Tigers an early 9-6 edge.
Mariah Poteet’s block at the net capped a run of four unanswered points and gave Har-Ber an 11-10 lead. The Lady Wildcats later led 17-16 after a kill by Carley McGaugh, then kept things close until the match ended.
“The first and third sets were tough for us,” Har-Ber coach Sandy Jones said. “That’s what we’ve been working on — focusing point by point and taking them to the end and not letting them have a run.
“We played them so much better this time. We’re getting better and better each game, and we’re getting everybody healthy. Hopefully, in the next two or three matches, we’ll continue to get better and better and focus on that state tournament.”
Har-Ber also kept things close in the first set and took a 19-18 lead on an errant kill attempt. Bentonville then scored the next three points, including an ace by Kristin Moore, and never relinquished the lead.
Molitor led the Lady Tigers with 13 kills, including six during the outburst in the second set. Sabrina Shepherd had four blocks, 10 kills and 10 digs, while McNee chipped in nine digs.
“It was a great game to play and a great game to watch,” Smith said. “It’s just a little nerve wrecking for the coaching staff.”