Lady'Dogs return wealth of talent

The goal of a state volleyball championship is always the expectation at Fayetteville. But after a season in which the Lady Bulldogs came up just short a year ago -- finishing runner-up in Class 7A -- that goal is never more apparent than now.

Fayetteville returns seven starters from last season, led by Co-Newcomers of the Year and current sophomores Ella May Powell and Haley Warner, along with senior Hadley Spresser, junior middle blocker Faith Waitsman, junior libero Abbie Kathol and junior defensive specialist Olivia Wales.

"We you get that close (like last season), it sets the bar high," Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said. "They say hungry dogs hunt best. So we're very motivated, and we still continue to find things to improve on."

Fayetteville attended the University of Nebraska team camp over the summer, winning three different team divisions in its trip to Lincoln. The Lady'Dogs open the season at Greenwood on Aug. 24.

"We've got good talent here and we don't need a heart transplant," Phelan said. "Our goal is just to focus and stay with the process."

Springdale High

Lady Bulldogs young, improved

Second-year Springdale High coach Kylie Moad is confident year two will be smoother and better than her first.

Moad has spent the spring and summer meshing a roster that includes seasoned veterans like all-conference selections Desiree Mack and Maddie Mueller with a group of underclassmen with potential. The Lady Bulldogs are trying to improve on a 9-19-2 season a year ago, which included a 2-12 mark in 7A-West play.

And this year's team is poised to be improved in at least one key aspect.

"We're going to compete and play to win," Moad said. "That's what I expect of them. We're not going to lay down for anybody. That's going to be better than it was last year. We're better this year than we were last year."

Mack and Mueller are both entering their third season as starters. How competitive Springdale is able to be is largely dependent on how the players around them develop.

Senior Mackenizie Evans will play outside hitter after playing junior varsity a year ago, while junior middle Sarahbeth Coleman should be improved after substantial playing time as a sophomore. Libero Elaina Pack played as a freshman a year ago and is the most experienced of four sophomores who will possibly start on varsity this fall.

"We've got some young players with experience," Moad said. "They've either played club ball or Elaina played varsity with us last year. ... We've got some girls who are very smart and know where to place the ball. That's going to be key for us this year."

Springdale's benefit game is Thursday at Huntsville. The Lady Bulldogs open the season Aug. 24 at Shiloh Christian.

Rogers High

Rogers gets sophomore help

Rogers returns just four starters, including three seniors, but the Lady Mounties are getting plenty of help from a sophomore class that is coming off a very successful junior high season at the ninth grade level.

In all, there are eight sophomores on the roster. Seniors Samantha Lassiter (6-foot-1), Audrey Herrera (6-0) and Hannah Lloyd (5-8) return after helping Rogers to the Class 7A State Tournament last fall.

"It looks like we are going to get quite a bit of help from my sophomore group at the varsity level," said Lady Mounties coach Jeana Breedlove. "We have a good core group and then I will fill in with sophomores."

Rogers opens the season Aug. 24 at Van Buren. The home opener is the next day when Alma visits King Arena.

Junior Madison Sherrill will take over the libero position from Kimi Davis, who is now on the women's volleyball team at Arkansas.

"Madison was an outstanding defensive player last year," Breedlove said. "She is a hustler. She has great court awareness. Madison is the only girl that can come in and replace Kimi."

Breedlove said that Lassiter will be the Lady Mounties go-to player.

"She is a very good hitter and she had some good camps this summer," Breedlove said. "We need to get it up to the big girls because we are going to have some pretty good height at the net."

Bentonville

Lady Tigers seek to fine-tune their game

Bentonville coach Michelle Smith likes what she has seen from her players on an individual basis during preseason workouts.

Now she wants to see how they well can put it together and be a cohesive unit between now and next week's benefit games against Shiloh Christian and Rogers Heritage. That's one of the reasons the Lady Tigers held a Black and Gold scrimmage game Thursday inside Tiger Arena.

"I found out we can play any position we need to play, which is really cool," Smith said. "We just need to find our groove. We need to start working as a unit and not as six individuals.

"We have six very talented individuals, and we have six very talented individuals on the bench. We need to figure out what they are really good at doing and fine-tuning those specialties. Right now it's very open. There are a lot of ideas and multiple lineups I can do, but I need to find our groove."

Smith split her varsity unit on an even basis during the scrimmage and let the Lady Tigers play two sets, with the second set ending in a 29-27 score. The varsity team then played a quick set against Bentonville's junior varsity team.

The players not only learned from that game-type experience, but Smith caught on to a few things, as well.

"Even though my girls are playing, I was coaching against them at times and looking at where our weaknesses were," Smith said. "I was thinking that this is what other coaches are going to see and where we need improvement. It opened my eyes to different things that I hadn't seen all summer."

Smith praised the play of Brooke Prime, who has moved up from last year's junior varsity ranks to claim a spot as one of Bentonville's defensive specialists.

Rogers Heritage

Summer Camps helping Lady War Eagles

Rogers Heritage coach Sarah Miser said her team has become a much more cohesive unit since the beginning of the summer.

The Lady War Eagles participated in three team camps and an individual skills camp earlier this month and the team has made great strides.

"We looked very disconnected as a team at the start of the summer," Miser said. "We started the Missouri State camp pretty shaky, but by the time we finished MSU and then hit UALR and our team camp we looked much smoother."

Senior Elleson Dunagin, a 6-0 outside hitter, will again be Heritage's go-to hitter. She earned all-conference and all-state honors a year ago in helping Heritage earn its first state tournament win in school history.

Miser thought she might need Dunagin to also set three rotations, but the emergence of junior CJ Landram could be the solution to aid the defense.

"Elleson is a good setter, but we are at our best when she's playing defense and passing," Miser said. "If CJ and Lindsey Glynn can handle the setting, that frees Elleson up to pass out of serve receive."

Landram got plenty of work during the camps since Glynn missed the event Heritage hosted and the UALR camp, while playing with her summer softball team in a national tournament.

Miser will get a chance to see how Landram and Glynn handle the 6-2 offense when the Lady War Eagles will square off against Shiloh Christian and 7A-West Conference foe Bentonville in a benefit match on Thursday.

Heritage opens the season four days later at Alma.

Springdale Har-Ber

Har-Ber has high hopes

Optimism remains high at Har-Ber despite the loss of 10 seniors from a team that finished 27-10-1.

The biggest loss is in the middle, where three-year starter Kim Huff is now a freshman volleyball player at Arkansas Tech. The Lady Wildcats must also replace Tiffani Ray, a setter who will play softball at Crowder Community College in Neosho, Mo.

"I was proud of how our kids bought into the program," Shyra Schisler said of her first year as the Har-Ber coach. "I think we can build on that and we focus every day on bringing the same intensity to the court as we would at the end of the season."

Har-Ber's top player is Emily Doss, a defensive standout as a sophomore who is already committed to Central Arkansas. Klaire Trainor is back along with Paige Williams, Emily Thompson, and Elizabeth Williams. Har-Ber expects big contributions for its sophomore class again, including Lauren Thompson, who is Emily's younger sister.

"Elizabeth has improved a ton from last year," Schisler said. "Emily Doss is a strong defensive player and we're hopeful she can become more of a vocal leader this year. For Klaire, we want her to be a more consistent and defensive-minded player."

Har-Ber will play in a benefit game at Fayetteville on Aug. 20 before opening the season Aug. 25 at home against Webb City, Mo.

Sports on 08/15/2015