Volleyball: Lady Saints complete three-peat

Shiloh Christian claims third consecutive conference tournament title

Shiloh Christian’s Olivia Barnes (5) tries to knock the ball past Berryville’s Jeanessa Smith (32) and Allie Ashford (13) on Thursday during the championship game of the 4A-1 Conference tournament at Pea Ridge High School.
Shiloh Christian’s Olivia Barnes (5) tries to knock the ball past Berryville’s Jeanessa Smith (32) and Allie Ashford (13) on Thursday during the championship game of the 4A-1 Conference tournament at Pea Ridge High School.

PEA RIDGE -- Shiloh Christian coach Nathan Bodenstein yelled "Yeaaah! Let's go!" after Sarah Rountree's ace late in the third set of a 25-13, 25-15, 15-16 win against Berryville in the 4A-Northwest Conference Championship at Blackhawk Gymnasium on Thursday.

Rountree's fifth ace of the match ignited a third set-deciding run for the Lady Saints (24-13) on their way to a third consecutive conference tourney title -- all coming against Berryville. Shiloh Christian will be the district's top seed and will play Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Lonoke. Second-seeded Berryville plays at 4 p.m.

"Berryville gives us fits every single time we play them," Bodenstein said. "So beating them in three (sets), I was pleasantly surprised. I thought we could do it, but we hadn't played them, so that's what I was excited about."

In three years as head coach, Bodenstein's teams are 49-0 against conference opponents in the regular season and postseason combined. They lost four sets to Berryville in 2014 and one set to Huntsville in 2015, but this is the first season to run through the regular season and conference tourney without dropping a set.

The Lady Bobcats had opportunities in each set to break that streak before momentum swung in the Lady Saints' direction.

"We showed up and were a little nervous at first," said senior middle blocker Olivia Barnes. "But once we settled down and started playing our game at our speed, we got into a rhythm and started having fun."

Berryville jumped out to 4-0 lead in the third set and the teams traded points before Haley Richards' kill broke a 14-all tie. Rountree's ace followed as Shiloh Christian pulled away with an 11-2 run to create the final margin.

The defending stater champion Lady Saints' finished off the first set with a 14-2 run after an errant Rountree serve tied the score at 11-11. Sisters Haley and Lexi Richards combined for four kills and Haley Richards had three of her team-high six blocks during the run, which Rountree also highlighted with a pair of aces. The Richards sisters combined for 28 kills with most set up by Hannah Smithson, who had 33 assists.

In the second set, Lexi Richards smashed a kill shot that landed just inside the back line to break a 7-7 tie and ignite a 9-2 run. They kept the Lady Bobcats at bay the rest of the way thanks to four more kills by Lexi Richards and a couple of big blocks by Barnes. Lexi Richards finished 14 kills and 11 digs.

"I turned around and said, 'I'm glad Lexi is on our team,' because I'm not sure we could stop her," Bodenstein said.

Fort Smith Southside def. Rogers High 3-0

Fort Smith Southside swept Rogers High 25-11, 25-22, 25-13 in the regular-seaosn finale for both teams Thursday night.

The Lady Mounties (22-13) were led by Hannah Martin with five kills and two blocks, along with Madison Sherrill with 21 assists and 10 digs. Maddie Tauai and Kassidy Wall chipped in five kills each.

Both Southside and Rogers will play in the Class 7A state tournament, which begins Tuesday at Springdale Har-Ber. Rogers takes on Mount St. Mary at 2 p.m. Tuesday in opening round action.

Sports on 10/21/2016

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