With wins in two of the first three sets, the Bryant Lady Hornets were in position to win their 7A-Central Conference match against the Mount St. Mary Academy Belles at the Hornets Nest Thursday night. But the Belles, fresh from a win over Cabot on Tuesday, tied the match in the fourth set then held off a furious Bryant rally in game five.
The Lady Hornets suffered a disappointing 25-23, 15-25, 25-20, 13-25, 10-15 setback.
“It was a hard-fought game and well looked really good in sets one and three,” said Bryant head coach Beth Solomon. “In sets two and four, and then in five, we had some letdowns.
“We were down 2-11 in set five and fought back to get back in the game,” she mentioned. “I’m proud of the girls for not giving up.”
The inexperienced team continues to struggle for consistency but, overall, had a more productive outing, amassing 45 kills, eighth service aces and 10 blocks.
Raven Loveless drilled 16 kills and Lylah Washington 15. Brittney Warner added five kills with a team-high six blocks. Alex Dillard finished with five kills and a block. Washington, Loveless and Ashlyn Lee had blocks as well.
Lee finished with 30 assists. At the service line, she was good on all 21 of her serves with two aces. Loveless got in 22 of her 23 serves with a pair of aces. Washington led the team with three aces and Cassie Ray had one. Dillard got in 9 of 10 serves while Riley Hill and Ray were 7 for 7.
Lee, Loveless, Dillard, Washington, Hill and Macey Loudon contributed digs during the match.
In a junior varsity match, Mount prevailed 25-17, 25-10. Aly Bowers had five kills, Kristin Boyle two with Beatriz Hernandez, Faith Stone and Imanii Jones adding one apiece. Lindsey Maxwell had eight aces.
Service aces were contributed by Maxwell and Loudon (two each) and Hernandez.
Bryant will try to snap a five-match skid at Little Rock Central on Tuesday, Oct. 4. They’ll host league co-leader Fort Smith Southside on Thursday then compete in a tournament in Conway on Saturday.
