Fayetteville sweeps Rogers Heritage

NWA Democrat-Gazette/CHARLIE KAIJO Fayetteville High School Claire Cooper (5) digs during a volleyball game, Thursday, October 11, 2018 at Rogers Heritage High School in Rogers.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/CHARLIE KAIJO Fayetteville High School Claire Cooper (5) digs during a volleyball game, Thursday, October 11, 2018 at Rogers Heritage High School in Rogers.

ROGERS -- Fayetteville is on an upswing with one match left in the regular season.

Sophomore Rosana Hicks had 10 kills to lead Fayetteville to a sweep (25-17, 25-20, 25-14) over Rogers Heritage Thursday night. Gracyn Spresser had 17 assists and Claire Cooper added 11 digs.

The win was the fourth in the last five matches for the Lady Bulldogs (8-5, 15-15) who will finish 6A-West Conference play at home against Springdale Har-Ber on Tuesday. Rogers Heritage (0-13, 5-25) will play at Rogers High.

"You want to be playing your best volleyball here in October," Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said. "We won two games this week and, hopefully, that will build our confidence going into Senior Night on Tuesday. We still have some things we need to clean up before the state tournament at Bentonville, but I feel like we're making gains."

It's been a season of transition for Fayetteville, which can finish from third to fifth in the league after winning three consecutive state championships behind All-Americans Haley Warner and Ella May Powell.

Hicks is a 6-1 middle blocker who's led Fayetteville most of the season. She was dominant early and capped Fayetteville's 25-17 victory in the first set with a crosscourt kill. The Lady Bulldogs also received powerful returns at the net from junior Arianna Walker, senior Carly Unruh, and freshman Avery Redfern.

"What's happened as the season's gone on is that a lot of kids have gotten more comfortable with the ball in their hands," Phelan said. "They've grown up a little bit with the pressure of 6A volleyball."

Rogers Heritage got to within 17-12 in the first match before Fayetteville pulled away again to take a 1-0 series lead.

Fayetteville received a stiffer challenge in the second match on Senior Night for Rogers Heritage. Junior Kariann Henry had two kills to cut the Fayetteville led to 15-14. But Fayetteville again regained control and won 25-20 to take a 2-0 series lead.

Fayetteville grabbed leads of 8-1 and 12-3 in the third set to overwhelm Rogers Heritage 25-14 and complete its second sweep in league play over the War Eagles.

Bentonville High 3, Springdale High 1

Savanna Riney had 11 kills and 20 digs to lead Bentonville to a 25-17, 24-26, 25-10, 25-16 victory over Springdale in Tiger Arena.

The victory, coupled with Bentonville West's loss, means the Lady Tigers (15-12, 10-3) have clinched the second seed out of the 6A-West and will have a first-round bye in the Class 6A state tournament, which will be played in Tiger Arena.

Maddie Breed added nine kills and Riley Robbe and Trinity Hamilton added eight apiece for Bentonville. Hamilton also had 15 digs, while Cait Hudgens contributed a team-high 24 digs and Meagan Atchison had 24 assists.

Zoe Schmidt had 8 kills, 20 digs and three blocks for Springdale (9-14-1, 3-10), while Lauren Bench and Faith Morgan chipped in seven kills apiece. Morgan and Bench added 16 and 11 assists, respectively, while Jesslyn Wells had 31 digs.

Springdale Har-Ber 3, Rogers High 0

Jayci Carpenter put up a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs to lead the Lady Wildcats to a 25-14, 33-31, 25-15 win over the Lady Mounties to clinch the 6A-West Conference title.

Carpenter also added two aces, while setter Lauren Cloud finished with 27 assists, nine digs and four aces for Har-Ber (20-6, 12-1). Molly Kingston also contributed a match-high 20 digs.

Anna Randels led Rogers (9-22, 3-10) with 11 kills and 13 digs, while Alexa Albarran added 12 digs.

Van Buren 3, Bentonville West 2

Alex Dupree put down 16 kills and Zoe Morrison added 12 to lead the Lady Pointers to a hard-fought 25-23, 25-18, 24-26, 24-27. 15-6 victory.

The Lady Pointers improved to 16-9 overall, but more importantly 8-5 in the 6A-West to pull into a three-way tie for third with West and Fayetteville with one league match remaining.

Madalyn Doolittle contributed eight kils and Bailey Brooks seven, while setter Mikelle Porter dished out 34 assists.

Kortney Puckett had 25 kills and 3 aces for West (16-15, 8-5). Jayden Lindsey added 11 kills, while Kerryann Ptacek and Emerson Traweek added 10 kills apiece. Winnie Spurlock had a team-high 25 assists, while Lexi Carter contributed 23 assists and 4 aces.

Fort Smith Southside 3, Little Rock Central 0

Sophomore Avery Fitzgerald hammered 17 kills and Hannah Holland added 15 to lead the Mavericks to a 25-12, 25-17, 25-16 win over Little Rock Central in 6A-Central conference play.

Sarah Tolbert dished out 18 assists and Hannah Hogue added 17 for Southside (27-3, 13-0), while Emily Bass contributed 14 digs.

Greenwood 3, Alma 0

Abby Cagle hammered a match-high 11 kills to lead the Lady Bulldogs to a 25-12, 25-12, 25-15 win.

Sophomore Madison Pugh served up eight aces, while Zoie Benton added seven kills for Greenwood (22-4, 12-0). Izzy Davis also contributed a team-high eight digs

Siloam Springs 3, LR Christian 2

Siloam Springs improved to 9-3 in the 5A-West Conference after rallying for a 3-2 win (25-18, 24-26, 16-25, 25-10, 15-9) over Little Rock Christian on Thursday.

Ellie Lampton notched her 1,000th career kill in the first set and finished with 17 klls, while Reigan Brown had 10 kills and Chloe Price eight kills and 35 assists.

The Lady Panthers host Greenbrier on Tuesday for senior night in a battle for second place.

Sports on 10/12/2018

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