BENTONVILLE -- When Fort Smith Northside managed to keep things close during the early part of Tuesday's first set, there was no reason for Bentonville's volleyball team to panic.
The Lady Tigers stuck to their game plan, and their patience paid off with a 3-0 sweep of the Lady Bears during their 7A-West Conference match in Tiger Arena.
"We set goals throughout the match, and the girls met them," Bentonville coach Michelle Smith said after the 25-13, 25-4, 25-12 rout. "It was a very versatile offense, which I liked mixing it up."
Bentonville (13-9, 7-1) trailed 10-9 in the first set before Emma Palasak's kill started a run that doubled the Lady Tigers' score and put them in control. Grayce Joyce loomed large in the outburst with two kills and two blocks, then Palasak capped the run with another kill to give Bentonville an 18-0 cushion.
Joyce also delivered an ace as the Lady Tigers capped the first set with four straight points, including kills by Tymber Riley and Sadie Pate, who had a game-high 11 kills in the match.
"Both of my middles really stepped it up," Smith said. "We've been working on implementing them into our offense a lot more, and our setter Kayton Coffee did a good job of trusting her middles and producing some big hits."
Northside (2-13-2, 1-7) never had a chance in the second set as Bentonville jumped out to a 9-0 lead and quickly padded it to a 21-3 margin. The Lady Bears did make things interesting in the third set and pulled within 11-10 on a Chloe Fitgerald kill.
The Lady Tigers, however, pulled away with seven straight points, including back-to-back aces by Coffee, and allowed Northside only two more points in the match.
"We've been working hard and progressing with adjusting to teams, and we did a good job of that at the beginning," Northside coach Jessica Waack said. "We're a very inexperienced team, and so when we get panicky we quit adjusting to the offense on the other side.
"When we start getting nervious and panicky, that's when other teams take advantage of us. Bentonville had a great middle offense, and we struggled to keep up with it."
Coffee had 21 assists and three aces to lead Bentonville in both categories, while Savvy King contributed 22 digs.
Sports on 09/30/2015