MORRILTON --Brookland eliminated Mena in the state quarterfinals for the third time in the last four years Wednesday afternoon in the Class 4A state tournament.
Brookland (28-7) dropped the first game but bounced back to win the match 22-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-16 at the Devil Dog Arena. The Bearcats will play 4A-Northeast Conference rival Batesville in today's semifinals.
Brookland swept Mena 3-0 the previous two quarterfinal matchups (2016 and 2018) and built a 17-7 advantage in Wednesday's first game. But Mena (29-5) roared back with a 13-3 run and eventually scored the final four points of the set, getting the winning kill from junior middle blocker Brenna Aynes.
"I thought we had the first game won after we got up by 10," Brookland Coach Nancy Rodriguez said. "But Mena brought a lot of energy and we started having crazy passes and weren't running our offense."
Senior Loren Payne, a 5-10 outside hitter, helped bring Brookland back from the 1-0 deficit. She finished with 22 kills, including three kills early in the second game and six in the match-clinching fourth set.
Junior outside hitter Ashton Hamrick added 18 kills for Brookland while junior middle blocker Hope Barlow came up with eight kills and two blocks.
"I thought Mena played very well in all four games but I was proud of our kids," Rodriguez said. "I thought [we] responded well. When you lose the first game you never know what's going to happen but they stayed the course and did what they were supposed to do."
Batesville (21-12) reached the semifinals with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-15 victory over Shiloh Christian.
Morrilton (24-4) and defending state champion Valley View (38-2) will play in today's second semifinal.
Sports on 10/31/2019