By Rob Patrick
Photos by Kevin Nagle
Like any other sport, emotion can play a vital role in a volleyball team’s energy, intensity and performance. And, of course, nothing creates emotion like an active home crowd.
So, it was no small thing that the Bryant Lady Hornets were playing in front of a bunch of their classmates, parents and fans on Tuesday night when the Conway Lady Wampus Cats brought their unbeaten conference record into the Hornets Nest.[more]
It made for a great atmosphere and those on hand got to see some quality high school volleyball.
Though Conway wound up prevailing 25-18, 24-26, 25-18, 25-16, it was just the second time all season that the Lady Cats didn’t sweep a conference opponent.
In a JV match, Bryant was competitive as well but fell, 18-25, 16-25.
The Conway program annually sets the standard in Class 7A volleyball, certainly in the Central conference and, on Tuesday, the Lady Hornets stayed right with the Lady Cats much of the way. The two teams produced a match full of extended rallies.
“They played amazing,” Bryant head coach Beth Solomon said of her team, which had a six-match winning streak snapped. “I’m not upset about tonight.
“Conway’s undefeated in conference, so the fact that we took a game from them is just thrilling,” she added. “I mean, I don’t know how long it’s been since Bryant’s taken a game from Conway. The only other team in our conference that’s done it is Mount St. Mary and we’re tied with Mount for second.
“This means good things for us going into the State Tournament,” the coach emphasized, “because, if we can play like that against Conway — I mean, they’re one of the best teams in our classification — we can play against anyone.”
The Lady Hornets, now 9-6 overall and 8-4 in league play, hosts Van Buren on Thursday before wrapping up 7A/6A-Central Conference play at home against North Little Rock on Tuesday, Oct. 19. They’ll play a non-conference match against Central Arkansas Christian on Thursday, Oct. 21, before heading to the State Tournament in Bentonville, Oct. 26-28.
Bryant is vying against the Mount for the second seed from the league with a first-round bye at State the prize.
Sophomore McKenzie Rice led the Lady Hornets with 10 kills. Junior Breanna White and Courtney Davidson, another sophomore, each had eight. White added six solo blocks, playing above the net impressively at times. Hannah Rice contributed 31 assists and 20 digs. Lauren Reed added 15 digs. In service, Taylor West and Maggie Hart each had an ace.
“The girls played really smart tonight,” Solomon said. “They found the holes, they put the ball there. And when they play like that, they play really well. We had a couple of moments when our hits weren’t on and our blocks weren’t there and that seemed to be what kind of hurt us.”
Though the Lady Hornets never led in the opening game, they rallied within 15-13 with Hannah Rice serving. Amber Cope contributed a kill to the little run which forced a Conway timeout.
The Lady Cats responded, however, and closed out the game despite a block and a kill by White down the stretch.
In the second game, it was tied 4-4 before Conway put together a 3-0 run and took the lead for good. The Lady Cats, in fact, were within a point of taking the game at 24-20 when a timeout by Solomon sparked a rally.
Hannah Rice got a dink to break serve and, after a hitting error by the Lady Cats, Davidson knocked down a kill. A net ball tied it at 24 then a dink by Davidson gave Bryant’s its first lead of the match, 25-24.
After a Conway timeout, a serve-receive error produced Bryant’s winning point with Reed serving.
And when McKenzie Rice scored the first point of the third game, the Lady Hornets appeared to be riding the momentum.
The Lady Hornets held the upper hand until Conway tied it 5-5 and pushed out to a 10-5 advantage.
After a timeout, Bryant rallied to briefly regain the advantage. Hart, Hannah Rice and McKenzie Rice each had kills along the way as Davidson served.
The game was tied at 11 and 12 before Conway edged ahead, 16-12. Cope’s kill ended the run then, with Hart serving, McKenzie Rice’s block scored then she and White combined on a block for a point to trim the margin to 16-15.
They just couldn’t regain the lead, however. They were within 18-17 when Conway, using some impressive work from its outside hitters, put together a 6-0 run to take control of the game.
McKenzie Rice again scored the first point of the fourth game with a kill but Conway reeled off the next five points and the Lady Hornets never quite recovered. They were able to get within 9-5 and 14-10 but, after a timeout, the Lady Cats surged again, producing a 20-13 advantage. A hitting error caused a side-out and, with Sydney Manley serving, Davidson pounded another kill as the the Lady Hornets trimmed the margin to 20-15 before Conway regained control and closed out the match.
“Yesterday, we worked a lot on hitting,” Solomon commented. “Tomorrow, we’ll probably work a lot on blocking and getting that back. We’ve got some pretty good blockers but (Conway’s) outside hitters hurt us some. The fact that they got them around us, we’ve got to be ready to play.”
In the JV match, Bryant closed within 22-18 late in the first game but Conway scored the last three points.
The second game began with Alyssa Anderson scoring on a hit off the net then coming through with one of her team-high five kills.
The game was tied at 3 before a kill by Haley Sherrill kept the Lady Hornets in front. Anderson’s tip hit the floor and it was 5-3.
It was 6-4 when Conway got it going with a 4-0 run. Bryant broke serve but couldn’t maintain control. The Lady Cats gradually started building on the lead on the way to the victory.
Sherrill finished with four kills. Taylor West contributed 13 assists. Kaylon Wilson led with nine digs. Brooke Howell added eight digs and served up an ace during the match.
