SPRINGDALE -- Springdale Har-Ber shook off some defensive struggles to notch a tough 3-1 (25-15, 19-25, 25-19, 25-17) win over crosstown rival Springdale High in 6A-West conference volleyball Thursday night at Bulldog Gymnasium.
Senior middle blocker Halle Roberts had a match-high 15 kills, while senior outside hitter Jayci Carpenter chipped in 13 as the Lady Wildcats (8-4, 2-1 6A-West) pulled away late in the final two sets.
Har-Ber has been beset with injuries this season, losing starting setter Natalie Williams to a broken foot three weeks ago, along with setter/defensive specialist Skylar Fernandez to three broken fingers also early in the season. But coach Shyrah Schisler loved the way her team responded under pressure against Springdale especially sophomore Taylor Rushing.
"Lauren Cloud's done a great job for us, but she's just 5-5 or 5-6," Schisler said. "We're truly missing like three setters. Taylor Rushing came in and did a phenomenal job with confidence tonight. Playing sophomore and JV and then coming in tonight having never even played with these girls.
"Molly Kingston and Jayci were also great tonight. Molly did the job being our back-row leader tonight. She really kept everybody together and stayed positive."
Kingston had a match-high 16 digs, while Cloud dished out 29 assists. Kat Cooper also served up five aces for Har-Ber.
Senior Zoe Schmidt led Springdale (4-5-1, 1-2) with eight kills and 11 digs, despite being injured midway through the fourth set. Lauren Bench added six kills and four blocks, while Taina Miller led with six blocks. Jotaka George contributed 13 digs and five aces.
Springdale coach Meagan Thompson said her team needs to be more consistent in its play.
"I always tell them they are kind of on a roller-coaster," Thompson said. "When we're on and we're hot, we're phenomenal and I don't think we can be stopped when that pass is there. But we're just kinda inconsistent on back row and out of serve receive."
Bentonville High 3, Rogers Heritage 0
Cait Hudgens had 11 kills and 20 digs as Bentonville claimed a 25-21, 25-15, 25-15 victory over host Heritage.
Riley Robbe added seven kills for the Lady Tigers (4-9, 2-1), while Meagan Atchison and Taylor Shapley contributed 19 and 11 assists, respectively. Savannah Riney added 16 digs, followed by Trinity Hamilton with 11.
Fayetteville 3, Van Buren 1
Gracyn Spresser had 25 assists and 14 digs to lead Fayetteville to a 3-1 victory (20-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-22) over Van Buren.
Jaden Weller added five assists and six aces for Fayetteville (3-4, 2-1), which has won three consecutive. Rosana Hicks had 12 kills while Arianna Walter contributed nine kills and five blocks for the Lady Bulldogs.
Bentonville West 3, Rogers High 2
The Lady Wolverines rallied for a hard-fought 17-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-7 win over Rogers and is now alone in first place in the 6A-West.
Kortney Puckett led West (8-4, 3-0) with 12 in kills, 4 solo blocks and 2 assisted blocks, while Emerson Traweek added 11 kills. Kerryann Ptacek and Winnie Spurlock contributed with 18 and 15 digs, respectively, while Shea O'Brien had five aces.
Freshman Rylee Martin tied for team-high honors with nine kills along with Anna Randels for Rogers. Allie Stephens added eight. Randels and Alexa Albarron also contributed 11 digs each for the Lady Mounties (2-10, 0-3).
Fort Smith Southside 3, North Little Rock 2
Sophomore Avery Fitzgerald and Hannah Hogue formed a nice 1-2 punch to lead the Mavericks to a tough 29-27, 25-19, 19-25, 15-25, 15-7 win at North Little Rock.
Fitzgerald finished a team-high 21 kills and six aces, including four aces in the fifth set. Hogue added eight kills, 23 assists, 15 digs and four aces. Emily Bass contributed 36 digs, while Hannah Holland added 15 kills, four aces and three blocks.
Siloam Springs 3, Alma 0
Siloam Springs improved to 2-0 in the 5A-West Conference with a 25-18, 25-15, 25-17 sweep of Alma inside Panther Activity Center.
Ellie Lamptin led the Lady Panthers with 13 kills, while Chloe Price had nine kills, seven aces and 20 assists. Kelsey Lewis led with 13 digs and Maddy Lasater added seven digs.
Sports on 09/07/2018