ROGERS -- Rogers High sophomore Madelyn Tauai helped the Lady Mounties serve up a 7A-West Conference volleyball victory Tuesday night.
Tauai had six of her seven aces during a 12-0 service run that got Rogers on track for a 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-21) victory over Springdale High. Rogers had 10 aces on the night as the Lady Mounties took another step toward qualifying for the Class 7A State Tournament.
"We have put ourselves into a position, if we can pull some upsets in this second round, where we could pull ourselves into the top four," said Rogers coach Jeana Breedlove. "We are going to work on our weaknesses and try the best we can."
Rogers trailed 2-0 in the first game when Tauai got the ball and the sophomore had aces on four of her first five serves for a 6-2 lead. Tauai's sixth ace gave Rogers a commanding 13-2 lead in the first game and she started the third game with four-straight service points as the Lady Mounties completed the sweep.
"Madelyn has really come on with her service game," Breedlove said. "It is just a difficult serve to pass because it just drops. We have to keep her focused back there because we need her to be effective back there.
"We can get runs with Madelyn back there. The same goes for some of our other servers if they focus on attacking and keeping it in. When that happens, it gives us an opportunity to score points."
Samantha Lassiter led Rogers with 12 kills while Hannah Martin and Audrey Herrera had seven and six kills, respectively. Madison Sherrill had 12 digs while Martin had seven. Hannah Lloyd had 23 assists for the Lady Mounties.
Springdale cut the Rogers lead to 15-13 in the second game on a kill by Desiree Mack but Herrera had a block and a kill that started a closing 10-2 run by the Lady Mounties for a 2-0 lead. Martin had four kills and a block in the second game for Rogers.
"Herrera really stepped up for us," Breedlove said. "She was really focused and ready for the set."
Mack kept Springdale close in the third game with five of her 12 kills but Lassiter had five straight kills for Rogers as the Lady Mounties held on for the sweep.
Springdale coach Kylie Moad was disappointed in the Lady Bulldogs overall effort.
"We had a hard time getting something going," Moad said. "I was wanting a lot more energy out there. We had to want it, and I think Rogers wanted it more than we did."
Sports on 09/30/2015