BENTONVILLE -- It took a little more than two sets before people inside Tiger Arena received a glimpse of what a Bentonville High-Bentonville West rivalry might look like Tuesday night.
Bentonville had to overcome a 16-13 deficit in the third set before it could complete the sweep with a 25-15, 25-15, 25-21 decision over West in their inaugural 7A-West Conference meeting.
Emma Palasak ended the match with a thunderous kill as the Lady Tigers (13-9, 5-2) scored five of the last six points to end the match.
"It was exciting," Bentonville coach Michelle Smith said. "I told the girls that they're making a little mark in history with the first meeting between West and Bentonville. I was proud of the atmosphere, I was proud of our fans and the girls and how they performed.
"I was proud of West and how they performed. Not once did they ever give up, and kudos to coach (Julie) Rowan. She's doing great things with those girls. It was a fun environment to be in."
Bentonville used big runs to take control of the first two sets. The Lady Tigers went on a 15-2 run and turned a one-point lead into a 23-9 cushion in the first set, then scored the first six points and went on to build a 16-7 edge in the second set.
Bentonville then led 13-10 in the third set before West (2-15, 1-6) ran off six straight points -- four on aces by Skylar McCombs -- and moved and took a 16-13 lead. The Lady Wolverines' last lead came when Kortney Puckett's kill made it 20-19, but Palasak started and ended a late Lady Tiger spurt with kills.
"We were all very nervous about this match," Rowan said. "It was nice for our girls to settle into the match and step up in the third set. They played like we've been wanting them to play.
"Our big thing is not to worry about the scoreboard. We want to play for every single ball, and we finally started to do that. We changed some personnel and changed our offense so we could get Kortney Puckett in different positions. That was nice, and we also put a different girl on the back row."
Tymber Riley had 12 kills and Palasak 10 for Bentonville, while Baylee Barganier had eight aces and 33 assists and Tori Lowry chipped in 16 digs. Puckett had five kills and Kerryann Ptacek four for West, while McCombs led the Lady Wolverines with her four aces.
Rogers High def. Springdale High, 3-0
The Lady Mounties served up 15 aces to sweep Springdale High 3-0 (25-13, 25-10, 25-11) on Thursday night in 7A-West Conference volleyball at King Arena.
Madison Sherrill led the way with five aces, eight digs and 27 assists for Rogers (9-7, 4-3 7A-West). Hannah Martin added nine kills, three blocks, two aces and five digs. Emily Harris also contributed six kills and five blocks.
Siloam Springs def. Farmington 3-0
Siloam Springs picked up a 6A/5A-1 Conference win Thursday night with a sweep (25-12, 25-19, 25-23) over Farmington at Panther Activity Center.
Shaylon Sharp led with 12 kills, while Chloe Price had 10 kills, 15 assists and nine digs. Ellie Lampton had five kills and 7 of the Lady Panthers' 14 aces. Allie Bowman contributed six digs, and Meg Gray had 18 assists.
Andrea Lowry led the Lady Panthers (7-9, 5-2) defensively with 32 digs, while Kelsey Lewis had 14 digs.
Claudia Oxford led Farmington (5-7, 1-6) with seven kills, while Kaylynn Bates had 13 digs and Carley Antwine five aces.
Siloam Springs hosts Huntsville on Monday in a nonconference game. Farmington plays at Southwest (Mo.) on Tuesday.
Springdale Har-Ber def. Rogers Heritage 3-0
The Lady Wildcats (15-2, 7-0) swept Rogers Heritage 25-3, 25-10, 25-7. Har-Ber has now won 11 of its last 12 matches.
Har-Ber was led by Arika Johnson's 20 assists and three aces. Har-Ber will travel to Jenks, Okla., for the Jenks Invitational this weekend before opening the second half of conference play at home against Rogers next Tuesday.
Fayetteville def. Van Buren 3-0
Faith Waitsman finished with a team-high 12 kills and Ella May Powell added 23 assists and five digs as the Lady Bulldogs breezed to a 25-16, 25-11, 25-10 home victory against Van Buren on Thursday at Bulldog Arena.
Haley Warner also added eight kills and two blocks for Fayetteville (17-4, 6-1 7A-West) and Abbie Kathol chipped in with six digs.
Sports on 09/23/2016