CABOT — Two tight sets into their 7A-Central Conference match, the Bryant Lady Hornets and the Cabot Lady Panthers were locked into a battle. Each had narrowly won and the third set figured to be pivotal. Unfortunately for the Lady Hornets, Cabot, playing on its home floor, gained the early momentum in the game and won. Though the fourth set was tight again, the Lady Hornets wound up absorbing a 25-23, 23-25, 13-25, 22-25 setback that ended their hopes of advancing to the Class 7A State Tournament this year.
Cabot thus earned a sweep of the Lady Hornets in a pair of 3-1 matches to secure the final spot from the Central for State.
“We looked really good in sets 1and 2 but had a lapse in set 3,” acknowledged Lady Hornets head coach Beth Solomon, whose team came into the season with one returning starter and struggled all year for consistency. “We managed to pull it back together in set 4, but couldn’t pull out the win.
“I’m proud of the overall effort that our girls showed tonight,” she added. “They keep getting better.”
Bryant is now 11-16-1 on the season and 2-10 in the league. The team will honor seniors Alex Dillard, Sarah Clemmons, Riley Hill, Reagan Blend and Sarah Kennedy (who’s been injured all season) in their final home game on Thursday against North Little Rock. A trip to Conway on Tuesday, Oct. 18, and to Benton on Thursday, Oct. 20, will close out the season.
Against Cabot, Raven Loveless led the team with 13 kills. Lylah Washington had 11, Dillard 9, Clemmons 6 and Ashlyn Lee 1. Lee had 28 assists. Clemmons and Dillard added two solo blocks each.
The Lady Hornets were good on 94 percent of their serves (80 of 85) but managed just two aces. Lee had one and Loveless the other.
Kyla Baker led with four digs. Washington had two. Lee, Loveless, Clemmons and Hill each had one.
In a JV match, Cabot prevailed 25-18, 25-20. Beatriz Hernandez and Emily Hall served up two aces each. Cassie Ray and Imanii Jones added one apiece.
Hall and Faith Stone led in kills with six apiece. Hernandez finished with four, Jones three. Kristin Boyle and Madi Draper each added a kill.
Lindsey Maxwell produced 15 assists. Boyle, Hall, and Stone finished with a block each.
