SPRINGDALE -- Springdale Har-Ber gave coach Shyrah Schisler the perfect birthday gift.
The Lady Wildcats took down 7A-West leading Bentonville in five sets (25-27, 25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 15-13) Tuesday, winning their seventh consecutive match while snapping the Lady Tigers' 16-match win streak that started late August.
"They've really come through and overcome a lot of adversity," Schisler said of her team. "We may not be big, but we found ways to play big, and I think at this time of the year that's what you want to be doing."
Tuesday also marked the second time in as many seasons the Lady Wildcats have beaten a team ranked nationally on MaxPreps on their home floor.
"We want to play our kind of volleyball," Schisler said. "Once we do that, we settle in and do things we know we can do. I love being the underdog -- always been the underdog. It just motivates us more to get better and better every game."
Har-Ber was led by senior and Ole Miss commit Lauren Thompson, who, pregame, received a plaque commemorating her 1,000th career kill. Thompson followed that up by recording a career-best 34 kills in the win.
Thompson had family in attendance to witness her accept the award and drive Har-Ber to its 22nd win of the season and move within a game of Bentonville (9-1 7A-West) in the league standings.
"I was really excited for this game because it's a big opponent," Thompson said. "The setters were giving me good balls, and changing up the middles and what they were running was throwing off their blockers, I think, and I had a lot of holes."
Thompson capped her special night with the match-winning kill in the fifth set after a pair of impressive defensive plays from Loren Whedbee, who finished with nine digs. The Lady Wildcats battled back in an error-riddled final set from 5-2 down to claim the match.
"I told the girls, I think, through all the sets that defense in going to win the game," Schisler said. "I love to see when the kids believe, step in and do what we ask them to do, and they had the confidence to do that against a very, very good Bentonville team."
For the Lady Tigers, Emma Palasak recorded a team-high 22 kills to go along with 14 digs. Tymber Riley added 25 digs and 15 kills as well, including impressive stretches in the third and fourth sets.
Fayetteville 3, Rogers High 0
Ella May Powell pounded 12 kills to go with eight aces and 14 assists to lead the Lady Purple Bulldogs to a 25-23, 25-13, 25-14 win over the Lady Mounties on Tuesday at King Arena.
Fayetteville outscored Rogers 11-5 to rally for the win in the first set and cruised to the victory behind a strong service games. The Lady Purple'Dogs served up 14 aces in the match led by Powell.
Junior middle blocker Lyndsey Mylius contributed five blocks, while Haley Warner tied with Powell for match honors with 12 kills for Fayetteville. Carley Galloway also added a team-best 14 digs.
Anna Randels finished with a match-high 31 digs for Rogers (10-18, 3-7 7A-West). Hannah Martin had a team-best five kills and four blocks, while Emily Harris added four kills and two blocks.
Springdale High 3, Bentonville West 1
Springdale bounced back after coming within a point of a 2-0 deficit as the Lady Bulldogs claimed a 17-25, 27-25, 25-14, 25-18 over West and retained fourth place in the 7A-West standings.
Keke Turner had 11 kills and six blocks for Springdale (12-8-1, 5-5), while Zoe Schmidt had 10 kills and 18 digs and Lauren Bench had eight kills, two blocks and two aces. Kaleigh Breathitt contributed a team-high 54 digs, while Jessie Davis added 22 digs and an ace.
Kerryann Ptacek led West (11-16, 3-7) with 14 kills, followed by Emerson Traweek with 11 and Kortney Puckett with 10. Winnie Spurlock had 34 assists for the Lady Wolverines.
Van Buren 3, Rogers Heritage 0
The Lady Pointers (11-11-1, 4-6 7A-West) swept the Lady War Eagles 25-20, 25-21, 25-11 on Tuesday night. Heritage dropped to 4-17-1 and 0-10 in the 7A-West.
Siloam Springs 3, Alma 0
Siloam Springs improved to 10-12 overall and 7-3 in 5A/6A District 1 with a 25-15, 25-20, 29-27 sweep of the Airedales on Tuesday at Panther Activity Center.
Ellie Lampton had 10 kills and 10 digs for Siloam Springs, while Reigan Brown had eight kills and Allie Bowman six kills. Annabelle Van Asche came off the bench and contributed 18 assists after starting setter Chloe Price left the match with a foot injury at the end of the first set. Price had 10 assists before leaving the match.
Bailey Hoffsommer led Alma (9-12, 3-6) with seven kills, while Rae Smith had six kills and Josephine Meinardus had six blocks.
Shiloh Christian 3, Gentry 0
The Lady Saints extended their 4A-1 Conference win streak to 59 consecutive matches with a 25-12, 25-9, 25-12 sweep of Gentry.
Lexi Richards had 17 kills to lead Shiloh Christian (14-9, 11-0). Taylor Larson had 9 digs and Kassie Boyett had 7 digs and 11 aces. Kaylee Jackson put down 7 kills. Jentry Lantzsch and Hattie McDonald combined for 28 assists.
The Lady Saints will host Lincoln on Thursday.
Sports on 10/04/2017