Springdale Har-Ber volleyball coach Sandy Jones is still hopeful for a turnaround despite recent poor play from the Lady Wildcats.
“I haven’t given up on this team, and I hope they haven’t given up on themselves,” Jones said. “But we’ve got to pull ourselves back together and find a way to win.”
Har-Ber (7-7, 1-3 7A/6A-West) has struggled after opening league play with a home-court victory over Van Buren. Har-Ber followed with surprise losses against Siloam Springs and Fayetteville in addition to defeats against the two best teams in the league, Bentonville and Rogers Heritage.
The home-court loss to Fayetteville was particularly painful after Har-Ber won the first two games.
“We’re trying different combinations, but we haven’t jelled together,” Jones said.
Har-Ber has a chance to make a move with Tuesday’s home game against Rogers and Thursday’s road game at Springdale High. Both teams are also 1-3 in conference play.
Lady War Eagles Finish Second At tourney
The Rogers Heritage Lady War Eagle volleyball team was missing three starters this weekend, but still performed well to finish second at the 10-team Lady Reddie Classic on Saturday at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.
Heritage (16-4-1) was without senior setter Luana Ferriera (concussion), junior middle Connor McNulty (knee) and sophomore defensive specialist Alye Darter (tennis).
The Lady War Eagles played pretty well all day except for the finals in a 25-12, 25-21 loss to Benton, Heritage coach Sarah Miser said.
“We changed from a 6-2 offense, which we had run all season to a 5-1,” Miser said. “We found out just when we were about to leave on Friday that Luana wouldn’t be able to go, so we didn’t even get to practice. We’re not sure when she will be back.”
McNulty suffered a strained medial collateral ligament in her knee in Heritage’s match against Springdale Har-Ber on Thursday and Miser decided to rest her for the weekend.
“We could have used her some this weekend, but we need her for conference,” Miser said. “With the changes in the rotation, it gave us time to look at some options.”
Heritage cruised through pool play, then defeated Malvern 25-14, 25-20 to reach the tourament finals.
After a bad first set against Benton, Miser abandoned the 5-1 and went back to the 6-2 offense with sophomore Bailey Baxendale as the second setter.
Baxendale, who sets some for the junior varsity, has worked her way into a varsity starting role as a defensive specialist.
She was named to the all-tournament team for her play on Saturday.
The team played better in the second set with players back in their normal rotation, Miser said.
Heritage should have Darter and McNulty in the lineup for Tuesday’s huge 7A/6A-West Conference showdown when it hosts co-leader Bentonville.
Both teams are 5-0 in the conference.
— PAUL BOYD • @nwapaulb
Tigers Take Second In Southern Stampede
Bentonville’s boys cross country team enjoyed its best individual and team effort in meet history Saturday while running at the Southern Stampede Invitational in Joplin, Mo.
The Tigers finished second with 113 points, while Rogers High took third with 140. Manhattan, Kan., was a runaway winner with 39 points after its top five runners all finished in the top 15.
Junior Jacob Shiohira led Bentonville with a second-place finish, completing the 5-kilometer run in 15 minutes, 31.4 seconds, while Brennen Kotoucek (17th, 16:32.28) and Cameron Hill (19th, 16:33.20) both finished in the top 20. Jack Barry (40th, 17:04.46) and Brooks Hedstrom (45th, 17:10.39) rounded out Bentonville’s team scoring.
Bentonville’s girls also earned a second-place finish in their division. Cor Jesu Academy of St. Louis won with 145 points, followed by the Lady Tigers with 174, five less than Manhattan.
Freshman Victoria Mitchell was Bentonville’s top runner as her time of 19:30.27 was good enough for 16th place. Twin sisters Cami Hedstrom (20:12.38) and Carmen Hedstrom (20:13.67) finished 40th and 41st, respectively, followed by Kylie Wheeler (49th, 20:19.94) and Carly Flinn (50th, 20:21.12).
Lady Tigers Win Pool At Tournament
Bentonville’s volleyball team enjoyed an unbeaten run through pool play before it lost a quarterfinal match at the Kickapoo Invitational in Springfield, Mo.
The Lady Tigers (12-4) were ranked fourth in their pool but claimed 2-0 victories over Nixa, Mo. (25-22, 27-25), Carl Junction, Mo. (25-18, 25-21) and Westminister, Mo. (25-16, 25-14). Bentonville then dropped a 20-25, 25-22, 25-21 decision to Republic, Mo., in Gold Bracket play.
“Although we finished sooner than we would have liked, the girls beat some very big teams,” Bentonville coach Michelle Smith said. “Nixa, Westminister and Carl Junction are well-known volleyball powerhouses in which we beat in two. I’m proud to see the continous improvement from these young ladies.”
Anna LeDuc had a team-high 30 kills and 19 digs for the Lady Tigers, while Sabrina Shepherd contributed 18 kills, 6 blocks and 8 digs. Other performers included Ariel Hornsby (five aces, eight kills, four blocks), Haley Seyfarth (76 assists, 23 digs), Emily Bruce (40 digs), Sadie Pate (23 kills) and Lindsey Hollander (15 digs).
Bentonville returns to action Tuesday night as the Lady Tigers travel to Rogers Heritage in a match that will determine sole possession of first place in the league standings.
— HENRY APPLE • @NWAHENRY
Springdale high golf nearing home stretch
Springdale High’s boys golf team will play a trio of matches this week, including one that could help the Bulldogs prepare for the Oct. 7-8 state tournament.
Springdale will play Van Buren on Tuesday, Rogers High on Wednesday and Rogers Heritage on Thursday. The match against Rogers will be at Lost Springs Golf Course in Rogers, the site of the 7A state tourney.
“That’ll give us a little bit of practice on the course,” Springdale coach Roger Voss said. “Then we’ll get our practice round on (Oct. 7). … That helps a bunch.”
Senior Cade Brown leads the Bulldogs and has had a solid year so far, which doesn’t come as a surprise to Voss.
“He’s been pretty consistent,” Voss said.
Springdale missed qualifying for the final round of the state tournament by one stroke last year, a finish the Bulldogs hope to better by qualifying as one of the top eight teams this year.
“I’m expecting us to make it as a team,” Voss said. “That was our goal at the start of the year. The more we play, the better we’re getting. We’ve got about two-and-a-half weeks. So we’ve got to put it on.”
— Jimmy Carter • @NWAJimmy
Lady’Dogs Pick Up Pair of Wins At Tri-State
Fayetteville hosted its annual Tri-State Tournament at Bulldog Arena on Saturday, and managed two wins in five volleyball matches at this year’s event.
The Lady Bulldogs (7-11, 3-2 7A/6A-West) opened the tournament by avenging an earlier loss in the season. Fayetteville defeated Greenwood, 25-23, 25-18, in its first match of the day, after falling to Greenwood in straight sets back on Aug. 29.
Following a straight-set loss to Ozark, Mo., Fayetteville bounced back with a 25-19, 25-20 win against Fort Smith Northside. Addison Keller had 10 digs and Brooke Baledge had five kills in the win against the Lady Bears for Fayetteville.
The Lady’Dogs then closed out the tournament with back-to-back losses to Blue Valley, Kan. (14-25, 16-25) and Logan-Rogersville, Mo. (15-20, 20-25) to finish sixth overall.
Ozark, Mo. defeated Blue Valley, 25-21, 22-25, 17-15, in the finals to become the first nonKansas team to win the Tri-State Tournament.
Fayetteville returns to conference play on Tuesday with a visit to Van Buren.
— VERNON TARVER