SPRINGDALE -- Not this time.
Fort Smith Southside avenged an early-season surprise defeat by downing Springdale Har-Ber 3-1 (25-21, 25-17, 23-25, 25-15) Tuesday at Wildcat Arena. MacKenzie King had 18 kills and 10 digs for the defending state champions, who fell 3-1 at home to Har-Ber on Sept. 4.
How They Scored
FS Southside^25^25^23^25
Har-Ber^21^17^25^15
The rematch marked the start of the second half of 7A-West Conference play for both teams, who went 5-2 in the first half. Har-Ber's first-half performance was highlighted by the win at Fort Smith when the Lady Wildcats gained early momentum with a marathon 34-32 victory in the first set.
"McKenzie had some big kills to get us going," Southside coach Steve Haaser said. "She's a good player and this is a good road win for our girls because they're hard to get in this league."
Southside (12-3, 6-2) took control in the rematch by winning the first two games 25-21 and 25-17. Har-Ber (16-6-1, 5-3) called two early timeouts in the second set after falling behind 8-2 and 11-4. But the brief stoppages barely slowed the Lady Rebels, who pulled away again after Har-Ber got to within 19-14. Greer Rogers and Madison Teal combined for a block to regain possession for Southside and King followed with a kill to put Southside ahead 23-17.
Paige Williams had 10 kills and Emily Doss 16 digs to lead Har-Ber. Klaire Trainor and Emily Thompson contributed seven kills apiece and Tiffani Ray added 19 assists.
"Our intensity level wasn't there tonight," Har-Ber coach Shyra Schisler said. "We played very slow and we were behind on our blocks and on our defense. Therefore, we kind of stayed behind the whole game."
Har-Ber avoided the sweep with a 25-23 victory over the Lady Rebels in the third set. Har-Ber started strong and did not fold after Southside tied the game 22-22 on a kill by Claire Wilson. Har-Ber ended the match with consecutive kills by Trainor and Paige Williams.
Tuesday's first game was also close with the teams tied at 16-16 and Har-Ber getting to within 22-21 after a kill by Trainor. But Southside won the game 25-21 with the help of some late errors by the Lady Wildcats.
Southside jumped ahead 8-3 in the fourth set and won 25-15 to finish off the Lady Wildcats.
Har-Ber hopes to avoid a second consecutive conference loss on Thursday at Bentonville, which beat the Lady Wildcats three times last year and once earlier this season.
Sports on 10/01/2014