Bryant freshmen reach semifinals of conference tourney
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RUSSELLVILLE — The Bryant Lady Hornets freshman team reached the semifinals of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference Tournament on Saturday before running into regular-season champion Benton. Though they won a set in the best of three match, the Lady Hornets’ season came to an end, 15-25, 27-25, 4-15, at the hands of their rival.
“The girls played very well and I was proud of their efforts,” said coach Julie Long. “They worked hard and didn’t let up at any point in the day. This group has so much potential to do great things in years to come.”
To open the tournament, the Lady Hornets swept Conway Blue, 25-13, 26-24. In that contest, they had just three service errors. Ashlyn Lee was good on all 10 of her serves and Jad’n Nichols was 3 for 3 with two aces. Kyla Baker got in all nine of her serves and Regan Ryan was 6 for 7.
At the net, Brittney Warner led the way with three kills. Raven Loveless and Reagan Dabbs had two kills each with Lee and Baker each pitching in with one. Loveless and Warner each had two blocks.
Baker, Loveless, Lee and Macie Morton contributed digs.
In the match with Benton, Loveless finished with two aces, going 7 of 8 at the service line. She also had five kills and two digs.
Lee, Nichols and Ryan each contributed aces. Lee was 8 for 8 on her serves, Nichols went 5 for 5 and Ryan 9 for 9.
Baker finished with 12 digs. Ryan had three, Lee and Loveless two each with Nichols and Maddie Miller one apiece.
The Lady Hornets finish the season 11-8.
