BENTONVILLE -- Fayetteville had its struggles this season, finishing fifth in the 6A-West Conference.
The three-time defending volleyball state champions looked right at home in the Class 6A state volleyball tournament on Tuesday at Tiger Arena.
State Tournament Parings
Class 6A
At Bentonville High
Tuesday’s Matches
Match 1: 4W Van Buren def. 5C Mount St. Mary, 3-1
Match 2: 3C North Little Rock def. 6W Rogers High, 3-0
Match 3: 5W Fayetteville def. 4C Fort Smith Northside, 3-0
Match 4: 6C Cabot def. 3W Bentonville West, 3-2
Today’s Matches
Match 5: 1C Fort Smith Southside vs.4W Van Buren, 1 p.m.
Match 6: 2W Bentonville High vs. 3C North Little Rock, 3 p.m.
Match 7: 1W Springdale Har-Ber vs. 5W Fayetteville, 5 p.m.
Match 8: 2C Conway vs. 6C Cabot, 7 p.m.
Thursday’s Matches
Match 9: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner, 1 p.m.
Match 10: Match 7 winner vs. Match 8 winner, 3 p.m.
Championship Match
Saturday
At Bank of Ozark Arena
Match 11: Match 9 winner vs. Match 10 winner, 11 a.m.
Sophomore Gracyn Spresser put up a triple-double with 12 kills, 15 assists and 12 digs to lead Fayetteville to the 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-21) win over Fort Smith Northside, the No. 4 seed from the 6A-Central.
Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said her team's ball control was the difference in the state tournament opener. It's a part of the game that's been inconsistent this season for the Lady Purple'Dogs, she said.
"We're a team, we want to make this a game at the net," Phelan said. "We know we've got good size, and we have a lot of people that can take good swings at the ball. Our DS's and libero did a good job on first contact.
"I thought we had good composure. It seemed like when sets two and three got kind of tight -- we did a good job maintaining some confidence and responding."
The Lady Purple'Dogs (16-16) advance to today's quarterfinals to take on Springdale Har-Ber, the 6A-West champions, at 5 p.m.
Rosana Hicks, a 6-foot-1 sophomore who contributed on last year's state championship team, added 11 kills, while Avery Redfern chipped in seven. Arianna Walter also added four blocks.
Northside coach Matt Waack said his team just had trouble adjusting to the state tournament environment.
"They have the ability, it's just finding a way to just relax and play like they know they're capable of playing," said Waack, whose team trailed 19-9 in the opening set. "It's just putting it all together."
Junior Nicole Medlin led Northside (23-14) with 10 kills, while Makiah Willis added seven. Setter Lexie Mosby dished out 29 assists and libero Thea Bishop contributed 23 digs.
Cabot 3, Bentonville West 2
Cabot, the No. 6 seed from the Central, pulled the upset with a tight 25-21, 21-25, 32-30., 23-25, 15-10 victory.
The Lady Panthers (11-21-1) scored six out of the final seven points in the match, breaking from a 9-9 tie in the fifth set. They will face Conway, the No. 2 seed from the Central, at 7 p.m. today in the last quarterfinal match.
Morgan Brown and Kallie Cavin were strong at the net for Cabot with nine and eight kills each. They also had seven blocks each. Caitlyn Rogers also had a team-high 26 digs.
Layne Smith added eight kills and three block assists for the Lady Panthers, who won the marathon third set on their sixth set point.
West (18-16), the No 3 seed from the West, trailed 23-22 in the fourth set but scored the final three points to force a fifth. Kortney Puckett, 6-0 junior and the Lady Wolverines' top hitter, went down with an injury early in the third set and never returned.
North Little Rock 3, Rogers High 0
The Charging Wildcats started the match with a 10-0 run and added another big run in the third set to claim a 25-18, 25-23, 25-21 win.
Senior Imani Jackson had a match-high 15 kills, while Jada Lawson added nine and Erin Butler eight. Libero Kaylan Armstong contributed a match-high 22 digs, while Butler and Lawson added 14 each.
North Little Rock (21-8), the No. 3 seed from the Central, will now take on Bentonville High at 3 in the quarterfinals.
Freshman Ryley Martin led the Lady Mounties (10-25), the No. 6 seed from the West, with nine kills and seven digs. Rogers pulled into a 16-16 tie in the third set, but North Little Rock scored three straight points and never trailed again. Anna Randels added six kills and a team-high 14 digs. Freshman Abby Harris also added six kills. Camran Brockhoff and Lilly Dennis dished out 10 assists each.
Van Buren 3, Mount St. Mary 1
The Lady Pointers put together a 10-0 run to take control of the fourth set en route to a 25-19, 20-25, 25-13, 25-15 win.
Van Buren pulled away in the third set for the win, but was tied 9-9 in the fourth before it scored 10 straight points to take control.
Alex Dupree and Grace Doolittle hammered 11 kills each to lead the Lady Pointers (17-10) to the win. Mikelle Porter also dished out 21 assists for Van Buren, the No. 4 seed from the 6A-West.
Van Buren advances to take on Fort Smith Southside (29-3), the No. 1 seed from the 6A-Central.
Sports on 10/24/2018