LINCOLN -- Winning may not be everything, but when it comes to volleyball in the 4A Northwest Conference, it's the only thing for Shiloh Christian.
Shiloh Christian (15-9, 12-0 4A-1) continued its epic win streak Thursday night against Lincoln, winning its 60th consecutive conference match with a 25-6, 25-16, 25-6 sweep. Including conference tournament games, the Saints have yet to lose to a conference foe since re-joining the 4A ranks in 2014 after a two-year period in the 5A-West.
"There are some really good teams in our conference, so credit to them as well for making us show up ready to play every game," Saints coach Nathan Bodenstein said. "I just challenge our girls every day to come out and focus on our goals. And one of our goals is to not let the program down."
Bodenstein, who took over the program in 2014 from current Springdale Har-Ber coach Shyrah Schisler, has now won 98 games at Shiloh Christian, including the 2015 4A State Championship.
The program overall has now won 78 consecutive conference matches, dating back to its time in 5A. The Saints' last conference loss came to Alma on Sept. 11, 2012 -- a loss they avenged later that season.
"There have been a lot of girls in the past that have established the legacy, and my challenge to our girls now is to keep that legacy going," Bodenstein said. "I told them that those girls before us worked their rears off, now you've got to work yours off to keep the program where it's at."
Junior Lexi Richards led the way against Lincoln, tallying 19 kills and three aces. She now leads the conference with 290 kills this season.
"We knew Lincoln would be tough at the net, so we just had to find our spots to put the ball," Richards said.
Shiloh Christian used a 7-0 spurt in the first set to jump ahead of the Wolves. Richards then served seven straight winners in the second set to keep the pressure on. Lincoln (5-6) did use a 5-0 late in the second to make things interesting. Then after both teams battled it out evenly to start the third, Shiloh went on a 17-0 run to put it away.
"It's Shiloh, and you know what that means, you've got to bring your A game because they are going to come prepared," first-year Wolves coach Lauren Creed said. "That's just been a lot of our focus, is getting some consistency with our girls, and having them get in sync with one of another."
Jentry Lantzsch finished with 10 digs and 12 assists for Shiloh, giving her a conference-high 294 assists on the season.
Hattie McDonald added a career-high 19 assists and six aces for the Saints, while Alex Bottorff finished with seven digs and six aces and Taylor Larson had seven digs.
Bentonville 3, Springdale High 0
Bentonville quickly rebounded from its first loss since late August Thursday night, sweeping Springdale on the road.
The Lady Tigers used 13 kills and 10 digs from Tymber Riley and 10 kills from Riley Robbe to move to 21-4 overall and 10-1 in 7A-West play. Baylee Barganier added 29 assists and Tori Lowry recorded 13 digs as well. As a team, Bentonville finished with 11 aces, including three from Grayce Joyce.
Springdale (12-9-1, 5-6 7A-West) was led by KeKe Turner's 10 kills, and Ashleigh Breathitt contributed 14 digs and eight assists in the loss. The Lady Red'Dogs return to play next Tuesday at Van Buren while Bentonville hosts Rogers High.
Rogers High 3, Van Buren 1
Senior Hannah Martin finished with a match-high 12 kills to go with 20 assists and five blocks to lead the Lady Mounties to a tough 25-18, 22-25, 25-19, 25-13 win at King Arena in 7A-West Conference volleyball.
Kassidy Wall chipped in 11 kills, while Anna Randels contributed seven digs for the Lady Mounties. Rogers (11-18, 4-7 7A-West) was strong from the service line with 15 aces. Alex Parish led the way with four.
Bekah Olienyk led Van Buren with nine kills and Alex Durpree added eight for Van Buren (11-13-1, 4-7).
Fayetteville 3, Rogers Heritage 0
The Lady Bulldogs recorded their 10th conference win by sweeping the Lady War Eagles 25-10, 25-11, 25-13 at home on Thursday.
Senior Emma May Powell triggered Fayetteville's offensive attack with 24 assists while senior Haley Warner had 18 kills and senior Carley Galloway contributed 13 digs.
Fayetteville (22-10, 10-3) will get its first weekend off in a month before traveling to Springdale Har-Ber on Tuesday. Rogers Heritage (4-19-1, 0-12) plays Charleston to open a tournament at Paris on Saturday.
Springdale Har-Ber 3, Bentonville West 0
Lauren Thompson delivered 15 kills and added 10 digs at Har-Ber rolled to a 25-18, 25-15, 25-17 victory over West and put the Lady Wolverines' hopes of another state tournament berth in jeopardy.
Jayci Carpenter added 10 kills for the Lady Wildcats (23-6, 9-2), who will host Fayetteville in a Tuesday match with second place in the league standings on the line. Loren Whidbee and Kaitlyn Schemel each added 10 digs, while Natalie Williams had 15 assists.
Kortney Puckett had eight kills and Emerson Traweek six kills for West (12-17, 3-8), which fell into seventh place in the 7A-West standings with three matches remaining. Winnie Spurlock had a team-high 21 assists for the Lady Wolverines.
Siloam Springs 3, Russellville 0
The Lady Panthers completed the season sweep of the Lady Cylones with a 28-26, 25-17, 25-20 victory inside Cyclone Arena.
Shaylon Sharp led Siloam Springs (11-12, 8-3 5A/6A District 1) with 13 kills and eight digs, while Ellie Lampton had eight kills and Reigan Brown seven kills. Kailee Thomason had 14 digs and Annabelle Van Asche contributed 10 digs and 36 assists.
The Lady Panthers head to the Conway Wampus Cat Invitational on Saturday before playing Greenwood on Tuesday in their final regular season match.
Sports on 10/06/2017