SPRINGDALE -- Springdale Har-Ber completed a much-needed sweep Tuesday to get back in the win column.
Kim Huff had 10 kills to lead Har-Ber to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-12) victory over Fort Smith Northside in 7A-West Conference action at Wildcat Arena. The win stopped a two-match conference slide for Har-Ber (9-4, 2-2), which started 4-0 before losing last week to Bentonville and Fayetteville.
How They Scored
Springdale Har-Ber 3, Fort Smith Northside 0
FS Northside^20^15^12^ - 0
Har-Ber^25^25^25^25^ - 3
Huff was the dominant player on the court, but she had help from Klaire Trainor, Emily Thompson and Paige Williams, who each had seven kills. Williams was particularly effective down the stretch in a close opening match with the Lady Bears (1-11-3, 0-3).
"It was a close first game because we weren't really pushing ourselves and being aggressive," Har-Ber coach Shyra Schisler said. "Finally, we just began to breathe and hit the ball, and we were fine. We're still learning exactly how to win, so this was big for us."
Tiffani Ray had 11 assists and Emily Doss 12 digs for Har-Ber while Tiarra McDonald led Northside with nine kills.
Har-Ber took over late in the first set to win 25-20. Northside led 18-17 before Williams and Huff had consecutive kills to put the Lady Wildcats ahead. Elizabeth Williams added a serving ace before Huff and Paige Williams traded kills to give Har-Ber a 24-20 lead. Huff, a senior, then placed a dink over the net to end the match.
"We're a young group that has these flashes of brilliance, then we hit some lulls," Northside coach Jessica Waack said. "We have to be more consistent. We're hoping it all comes together for us by the end of the season."
Har-Ber won the second set decisively, 25-15. Northside fell behind early and called a timeout with the Lady Bears trailing 15-10. The brief pause didn't help Northside, which made some unforced errors. Two players bumped into each other on an attempt at a return volley and another player hit into the net to give Har-Ber a 23-15 lead.
Har-Ber completed the sweep after taking an 8-3 lead in Game 3. Northside had no answer for Huff, who had consecutive kills to help extend the Har-Ber lead to 18-9. Har-Ber already had 23 points before Northside finally got to 10.
Har-Ber will continue league play at Rogers Heritage on Thursday while Northside hosts Rogers High.
Sports on 09/17/2014