FAYETTEVILLE -- Senior Night at Bulldog Arena came full of festivities, ceremony, celebration and a last-second, pre-match injury that forced Fayetteville to adjust on the fly.
Even with all the emotions of Senior Night, and a fluke ankle injury to middle blocker Faith Waitsman during warmups, the Lady Bulldogs kept their composure and played near flawless volleyball in a 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-15) sweep of Fort Smith Southside on Thursday.
"Going out in that first set I had a little pit in my stomach," Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said. "It's the girls' Senior Night and it's real emotional for the kids, playing for the last time in Bulldog Arena. I'm proud of them for going undefeated at home this year and really stepping up tonight and taking care of business.
"Anytime you beat a Southside team in three you deserve credit, and without Faith who's been our most consistent blocker and a big go-to for us. So we're happy to win and we put ourselves in good position going into next Tuesday (at Bentonville)."
Fayetteville's only serious push from Southside (20-11, 6-7 7A-West) came in the first set. But six straight points led by strong play at the net was a key swing in the Lady Bulldogs' favor and set the tone for the rest of the night.
"I thought their defense was phenomenal," Southside coach Steve Haaser said. "We had a lot of good hits and balls I thought we could put down. But their defense, I thought, was excellent. And I felt like their outside hitters were a big difference.
"You never have an answer for Haley Warner, but we couldn't slow down their outside hitters."
Warner led Fayetteville (29-3, 13-0) with 17 kills and five blocks. Abbie Kathol added 12 kills and 16 digs and Ella May Powell finished with 37 assists and four aces.
With Waitsman in the training room with an ankle sprain and out of the match, Fayetteville inserted Mary Grace Heil into the lineup in place of Waitsman.
"She's gotten some playing time in that position and I'm really proud of her and some of our other kids who have stepped up," Phelan said. "We've been without some of our starters the last couple of weeks and we've shown a lot of resiliency and been able to come together and get the job done."
Greer Rogers led Southside with 10 kills.
Fayetteville visits Bentonville on Tuesday and Southside is at home against Fort Smith Northside to close the regular season.
Sports on 10/16/2015