Lady Hornets challenge Conway but fall in four sets

Whitney Brown (2) and Madison Greeno. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)

At the start, it looked like the Bryant Lady Hornets just might be able to knock off the 7A-Central Conference-leading Conway Lady Wampus Cats Thursday night at the Hornets Nest.

Fresh from clinching their own Class 7A State Tournament bid, the Lady Hornets had a chance to gain a No. 2 seed from the Central with a win over Conway, which came in unbeaten against 7A teams in the league. (The Lady Cats have, however, lost to Russellville, a 6A member of the mixed Central Conference.)

But, after winning the first set, 25-17, the Lady Hornets fell victim to Conway’s rally, 11-25, 16-25, 16-25 in the four-game match.

“We started out playing really well and capitalized on Conway’s errors to win the first set,” noted Bryant coach Lawrence Jefferson. “Conway came back out on fire and we had trouble with their serve in the second set.

“Conway continued to play well and we had too many dig errors and hitting errors to overcome,” he added. “We continued to fight to the end and never gave up. The girls play hard every play.”

Bryant’s Alex Dillard (17) attacks. (Photo by Kevin Nagle)

Junior outside hitter Allie Anderson turned in a strong performance with 15 kills, three service aces and seven digs. She was good on 15 of her 18 serves altogether.

Kendall Selig added five kills with Mercedes Dillard, Britney Sahlmann and Nikki Clay adding two each. Alex Dillard, Whitney Brown and Rylee Phillips added a kill apiece.

Sahlmann had 26 assists and was good on 15 of her 16 serves with one ace. She had 16 digs.

Brown added 15 digs and was good on all seven of her serves. Clay and Abby Staton each served up aces. Clay was 8 for 8 on her serves and Staton 6 of 7. Selig got in seven of her eight serves.

The Lady Hornets complete their conference schedule when they travel to Siloam Springs on Tuesday, Oct. 23 — a long trip on a school night. They’ll celebrate Senior Night in their regular-season finale on Thursday, Oct. 25, against non-conference foe Little Rock Central.