FAYETTEVILLE -- Fayetteville took some early shots from Rogers, but the Lady Bulldogs had the answer to advance to today's Class 6A state volleyball semifinals.
Rosana Hicks hammered 17 kills and sophomore Brooke Rockwell added 14 to help Fayetteville surge to a 25-21, 25-18, 25-15 victory over the Lady Mounties on Wednesday afternoon in Bulldog Arena.
Fayetteville (19-1) advances to today's semifinals at 4 p.m. against conference foe Springdale Har-Ber.
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Fayetteville Coach Jessica Phelan said nothing really came easy, but her team stayed focused.
"Hand it to Rogers, they played really good volleyball today," she said. "I think that we didn't rattle. Probably the difference was we were able to get on a couple service runs. They gave us a little bit of room, and I thought we had a nice night offensively.
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"We were able to get a little momentum going into game three and then finish it out."
Rogers (12-7) stayed with Fayetteville in each of the first two sets. The Lady Mounties led 14-12 in the first and 14-13 in the second. But Rockwell keyed a 9-1 run in the opening set to give Fayetteville a 21-15 advantage.
Hicks heated up in the second set as part of a 10-1 run to help the Lady Bulldogs grab a 23-15 lead.
"Those two are a real good 1-2 combo on the pin, and I thought they both had a real efficient night offensively," Phelan said. "They stayed aggressive. Rogers puts up a pretty big block, and I thought they did a nice job swinging around that.
"Rosana got more and more aggressive as the match went on and got in a groove. First round of the tournament, we hadn't played in a few days but I think as the match went on she got more comfortable, everybody settled in and we played pretty good volleyball."
Fayetteville controlled the third set from the start, rolling to a 21-8 lead and on to the victory.
Setter Kennedy Phelan registered a double-double with 40 assists and 12 digs, while Gracyn Spresser had a team-high 18 digs.
Gracie Carr led Rogers with 7 kills and 12 digs, while Brooke Park added a team-high 13 digs. Kate Miller added five kills and two blocks. Camiran Brockhoff had three aces.
Bentonville 3, Conway 2
The Lady Tigers (15-7) survived a couple of long dry spells in the second and third sets, scoring four of the last five points in the fifth to earn a 25-23, 24-26, 18-25, 25-15, 15-11 victory over the 6A-Central conference tournament champions.
Bentonville, the No. 4 seed out of the West, will take on Fort Smith Southside at 1 p.m. today in the semifinals.
The defending champions took leads of 19-10 and 24-15 in the second set, but Conway (14-4) scored 11 consecutive points to win the set and tie the match.
The Lady Wampus Cats put together a 12-2 run in the third to win that set and earn a 2-1 advantage, but Bentonville controlled the fourth and surged late for the win.
Junior Trinity Hamilton enjoyed a huge match with 20 kills and 20 digs. Senior Jamie Myrick contributed 39 digs to anchor the Lady Tigers defense. Setter Maddy Hughes registered a double-double with 45 assists and 13 digs, and Alexis Smith added 15 digs.
Madison Holloway led Conway with 11 kills and 7 blocks, while Laney Kellybrew added 9 kills and 3 blocks. Abby Masters registered a double-double with a team-high 18 digs and 21 assists.
FS Southside 3,
North Little Rock 0
Mississippi State commitment Avery Fitzgerald hammered 14 kills to go with four aces to lead the Lady Mavericks to a 25-16, 25-19, 25-16 quarterfinal win.
Southside (15-3) trailed briefly in the match before pulling away from the Lady Charging Wildcats, the No. 3 seed from the 6A-Central.
Arkansas commitment Hannah Hogue registered a double-double with 31 assists and 10 digs for Southside (15-3), the No. 2 seed from the West and two-time defending state runner-up. Toree Tiffee chipped in nine kills, while Hayley Hall and Olivia Melton combined for seven blocks.
Springdale Har-Ber 3, Cabot 0
The Lady Wildcats made it an all 6A-West state semifinal with a 25-14, 25-17, 25-9 win over the Lady Panthers in the final quarterfinal of the day.
Kat Cooper led the Har-Ber attack with 12 kills, while Jordan Benford added nine. Caylan Koons dished out 34 assists for the Lady Wildcats (11-4). Kinleigh Hall contributed five blocks, while Josie McCroskey chipped in 10 digs.
Cabot (10-11) finished fifth in the 6A-Central during the regular season, but advanced to the finals of the conference tournament before losing to Conway.
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Class 6A State Volleyball Pairings
At Bulldog Arena, Fayetteville
Tuesday’s Scores
Match 1 No. 4-West Bentonville High 3, No. 5-Central Mount St. Mary 0
Match 2 No. 3 Central North Little Rock 3, No. 6 West Bentonville West 2
Match 3 No. 5 West Rogers High 3, No. 4 Central Fort Smith Northside 0
Match 4 No. 3 West Springdale Har-Ber 3, No. 6 Central Bryant 0
Wednesday’s Scores
Match 5 Bentonville 3, No. 1 Central Conway 2
Match 6 No. 2 West Fort Smith Southside 3, North Little Rock 0
Match 7 No. 1 West Fayetteville 3, Rogers High 0
Match 8 Springdale Har-Ber, 3, No. 2 Central Cabot 0
Thursday’s Matches
Match 9 Bentonville vs. Fort Smith Southside, 1 p.m.
Match 10 Fayetteville vs. Springdale Har-Ber, 4 p.m.
Paul Boyd can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAPaulb.