FAYETTEVILLE -- The showdown for top honors in 7A-West Conference volleyball quickly turned into a showcase for Fayetteville on Tuesday in Bulldog Arena.
The Lady Bulldogs (25-6, 11-1 7A-West) started strong in the first set with tough defense and continued throughout the night with powerful scoring throughout the lineup. The final result was a convincing 25-14, 25-17, 25-15 sweep of Springdale Har-Ber as the Lady Bulldogs pulled even with the Lady Wildcats in the 7A-West standings.
Fayetteville sits in prime position to grab the top seed for the Class 7A state tournament, as its sweep of Har-Ber wins the tiebreaker over the Lady Wildcats' previous five-set victory at home earlier this season.
"I thought we came out with a lot of confidence, and when they made a push I thought we responded with a lot of confidence," Lady Bulldogs coach Jessica Phelan said. "The other good thing to see is it was just really complete.
"We got a lot of good production from a lot of players and we were able to spread that ball around. I think that makes us a pretty difficult team to beat. Har-Ber is a great team, so moving into the final couple of weeks we feel good about how we're playing and we want to build on this momentum."
Haley Warner recorded five kills in the first set and Fayetteville forced Har-Ber (28-4, 11-1) into several return errors with imposing defense at the net, using a 14-4 run to take command.
In the second set, senior blocker Faith Waitsman set the tone for the Lady Purple'Dogs with a personal rally that helped put the match away for good.
Waitsman reeled off a flurry of kills as Fayetteville built a 13-7 lead, then helped close out a 25-17 win with her defense and sweeping shots to put the Lady'Dogs up 2-0.
"She works so hard on the floor for us to be an option," Phelan said. "The other part of that is we passed the ball really well to get Faith the ball, and our defense put up good balls where we could put the ball up in the middle."
Har-Ber never made a serious threat, dropping the third set 25-15.
"I think we just didn't play well at all," Lady Wildcats coach Shyra Schisler said. "We didn't play the way we needed to and we didn't play Har-Ber volleyball."
Ella May Powell had 32 assists and 12 digs and Waitsman finished with 13 kills and four blocks for Fayetteville. Warned added 14 kills, Abbie Kathol finished with eight kills and Olivia Wales contributed 12 digs for the Lady'Dogs.
Paige Williams finished with 10 kills for Har-Ber and Emily Doss and Lauren Thompson added 10 and nine digs, respectively.
Fayetteville hosts Springdale High on Thursday and Har-Ber returns home Thursday to host Van Buren.
Bentonville def. Rogers High, 3-0
The Lady Tigers used a pair of late surges and one early one to claim a big 25-22, 25-21, 25-0 win over Rogers High in 7A-West Conference action Tuesday night.
Bentonville (16-12, 8-4 7A-West) scored four of the last five points to take the opening set, then three of the last four to win the second. The Lady Tigers then jumped to a 19-9 lead in the third set and held on for the win to clinch the No. 3 seed from the West in the upcoming state tournament.
Emma Palasak put up 14 kills, while Savanna Riney chipped in 11. Setter Baylee Barganier contributed 33 assists and nine digs, while libero Tori Lowry added 18 digs and two aces.
Hannah Martin led Rogers (21-12, 6-6) with nine kills, eight digs and two aces. Setter Madison Sherrill contributed 11 digs and three blocks, while Emily Harris had a match-high ive blocks.
Van Buren def. Springdale High 3-2
The Lady Pointers earned a season sweep of Springdale High Tuesday, outlasting the Lady Red'Dogs in five sets (25-22, 23-25, 16-25, 25-11, 14-16).
Springdale was led by Zoe Schmidt and Keke Turner, who each tallied 15 kills. Schmidt's night was a well-rounded one as she also accounted for 20 dogs and five aces. Kaleigh Breathitt added 22 digs and a pair of aces in the loss. Annalia Slater led Springdale with 25 assists.
The Lady Red'Dogs fall to 6-17-2 overall and 3-9 in 7A-West play. Thursday, Springdale travels to Fayetteville, who essentially captured the league's No. 1 seed in the state tournament with a sweep of Springdale Har-Ber. Van Buren moves to 13-10 (6-5 7A-West).
Bentonville West def. Rogers Heritage 3-1
Freshman Kortney Puckett capped a 10-kill performance by scoring match point, and West celebrated its first-ever home victory with a 25-18, 25-15, 23-25, 25-23 decision over Heritage.
The win also moves the Lady Wolverines (5-22, 3-9) into a tie with Springdale for sixth place in the conference standings. If the two teams remain tied, a tiebreaker will be used to determine which team goes to the Class 7A state tournament.
Kerryann Ptacek had a team-high 12 kills for West, while Emily Evans added 11 and Shea O'Brien contributed a team-high 23 digs.
Hope von Gremp led Heritage (2-21-2, 0-12) with seven kills, while CJ Landram had 17 assists and six blocks and Tayonna Wilson chipped in five blocks. Shanice Erby added four digs.
Sports on 10/12/2016