September 21 in Bryant athletic history: 2011

Bryant frosh close out win over North Little Rock with comeback

EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).

The Bryant Lady Hornets freshman volleyball team improved to 3-1 with a 25-16, 26-24 win over the[more] North Little Rock Junior Lady Cats on Monday night that, according to head coach Monica Parish, wasn’t pretty though it was effective.

In the first game of the match, the Lady Hornets never trailed though they struggled with their serves. In the second, they fell behind 5-13 but roared back to win.

“I was so proud of the comeback,” Parish said. “Being down eight points is huge in a game that only goes to 25. Once we caught back up, it was back and forth — probably a good game to watch as a spectator but not as a coach.

“And ugly or not, it’s still a conference win,” she emphasized.

Of the first game, Parish said, “We had four serve errors and three net violations. That’s seven points that we just gave to North Little Rock from sloppy play and poor footwork. It was an ugly win.”

North Little Rock was even with the Lady Hornets in that first set, 8-8, but an ace served up by Mariah Aguilar provided a lead they would not relinquish. They just couldn’t maintain and extended run because of the serving errors.

Sydney Gogus took over as server with Bryant up 13-10 and served it to 17-10 including an ace but a net violation forced the sideout.

North Little Rock was unable to keep control however as Nikki Clay set for a kill by Mercedes Dillard. Net serves followed, however. Still the Lady Cats were unable to maintain their serve and a kill by Clay had Bryant up 20-13.

Point 23 came on a play in which Dillard hustled after the ball and got a pass to Aguilar who set for Clay for a kill.

In the second game, Bryant held a 5-4 lead with the early run highlighted by a kill by Lindberg off a set by Clay. But it was at that point that North Little Rock got on a roll.

“I called timeouts, subbed may players,” Parish recounted. “We had passing errors and then, when we got a pass, we hit into the net.”

With Sarah Shepard serving, the Lady Hornets began the trek back into the game. Emily Henson contributed a kill then Shepard knocked down back-to-back aces and they found themselves down only 12-15.

It was 13-16 when Clay took over serving and dropped in three straight aces to get the game even. A sideout came on a net violation but the Lady Hornets broke serve and, with the game tied at 17, Brianna Davis took over as the server and placed another ace to give her team the lead.

Clay set for kills by Lindberg for point number 19 and to even the score at 19. North Little Rock held a 23-22 lead when Henson came up with a dig that led to a kill by Aguilar, which sparked the Lady Hornets to victory.

The Bryant girls return to Central Arkansas Junior High Conference action this Thursday at Cabot South.