Bryant earns much-needed victory over Central
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After a pair of tough losses to open the 7A-Central Conference schedule, the Bryant Lady Hornets were in need of some success as they went into Thursday’s home match with league rival Little Rock Central.
And they came through in fine fashion, not only notching the victory but doing so in straight sets over the Lady Tigers, 25-8, 25-15, 25-4.
The junior varsity was efficient as well, earning a 25-19, 25-8 decision.
“Our varsity girls needed a solid win at home,” said Lady Hornets head coach Beth Solomon. “The girls did a good job trying to overcome the lulls in tonight’s game. Both JV and varsity worked hard to overcome the slower play than they are used to playing.
“We also really stressed the importance of serving tonight,” she mentioned. “The girls did a good job of serving aggressively and making sure they were ready for anything to come over the net.”
The varsity team was good on a whopping 94.5 percent of their serves, just four errors in 73 attempts. Kyla Baker got in all 19 of her offerings. Ashlyn Lee was 16 of 17, Brittney Warner 13 of 14 and Reagan Blend 11 of 12.
Lee and Blend each had five aces along the way. Sarah Clemmons served seven times with one error and three aces. Warner also delivered an ace.
“We won set one then got comfortable and won set two 25-15,” Solomon pointed out. “For set three, we tried to find some extra motivation and the girls answered by finishing it off with a win of 25-4.
“I’m proud of the way the girls are playing now,” she asserted. “We had a hard game on Tuesday at Mount and the girls are coming together after our rough week last week.
“This is a straight 7A conference, so there are no ‘gimmie’ games,” the coach stated. “Next week we will have Southside and Cabot. We have seen Cabot at Spikefest and the girls are ready for a rematch. Tuesday, we travel the longer road trip to Southside so we will spend the next two practices working to do whatever it takes to come home with a win.”
At the net, the Lady Hornets accumulated 26 kills with only nine attack errors in 67 tries. Raven Loveless led with six kills. Clemmons, Alex Dillard and Lylah Washington each pitched in with five kills. Warner had three and Lee two.
Lee finished with 20 assists as setter for the Lady Hornets.
In the JV match, Imanii Jones and Faith Stone led with four kills each. Kristin Boyle added two and Aly Bowers one. Lindsey Maxwell had seven assists.
Macey Loudon was good on all 15 of her serves with a whopping seven aces. Madi Draper was 10 for 10 with four aces. Stone also served up four aces and Shannon Stewart had three. Cassie Ray led the team with five digs.
