Lady Hornets end home drought for third straight victory
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).
By Rob Patrick
It came close to being in three games but the Bryant Lady Hornets earned their third straight victory in a four-game match against the Little Rock Central Lady Tigers at the Hornets Nest on Tuesday night.
The win, the team’s first at home since the second match of the season against Malvern on Aug. 26, improved the Lady Hornets to 5-3 in conference play and, if league-leading Conway won over Mount St. Mary Academy of Little Rock on Tuesday, it set up a showdown for a share of second place between Bryant and the Belles of the Mount on Thursday at McCauley Center.
Bryant prevailed over Central, 25-12, 25-20, 25-27, 25-13. In a JV match, the Lady Horents won 25-7, 25-11.[more]
“The girls are getting better and better,” asserted Bryant head coach Beth Solomon. “We’ve finally got our first hom conference win. We set a goal to start off the second round of conference play better than we did the first round. So far, we’ve met our goal. Let’s hope we can continue our level of play through Thursday.
“I thought the girls played very well tonight,” she stated. “I can always count on them to fight through the game to the end. We really should have been done in three games but Central is a good team and fought to win the third game. We let ourselves get down by six points twice during game three. The girls fought back to tie the game up both times but, unfortunately, didn’t pull it out in the end.
“They’re fighters though,” she added, “which is why they made sure they finished it in game four with no questions and no lulls.”
Indeed, the Lady Hornets never trailed in the fourth game of the match. It was tied 2-2 early when a dink by Brianna White started a Bryant run that included a pair of kills by White and a serving ace by Sydney Manley.
White finished with a team-high 11 kills and four block assists.
Central forced a side-out after it had reached 7-2 but could get no closer than three points the rest of the game.
The last time it was that close was at 9-6 but a dink by Hannah Rice returned service to the Lady Hornets. Maggie Hart scored on one of her three solo blocks in the contest. Hannah Rice, who was 10 of 11 on serves with three aces, came through with one at that point to make it 12-6.
Rice also led the team with 25 assists in the match. Her sister McKenzie Rice contributed eight kills as did Courtney Davidson. Lauren Reed had 18 digs.
Amber Cope and McKenzie Rice added kills as the lead ballooned to 10, 17-7.
Central got within 19-12 late in the game before Bryant got a side-out on a hitting error by the Lady Tigers. The Lady Hornets pushed the lead to 24-12 on a pair of kills by Davidson and another block by Hart.
Central broke serve but couldn’t keep control and when Hart’s hit was blocked out of bounds, Bryant had the victory.
The first game of the match went much like the fourth as the Lady Hornets never trailed. The initial push turned a 5-3 lead into a 9-3 advantage. Davidson contributed a kill and Hart a block during that stretch.
Bryant put together a run from 14-8 to 18-8 with Taylor West serving and the Lady Hornets maintained that spread the rest of the game.
Central got off to a better start in the second game but a 4-2 lead disappeared on hills by White and Hannah Rice. It was tied at 5 and 6 before a hitting error which gave the Lady Hornets a 7-6 edge brought a run with Davidson in service that included an ace and several Central errors.
The Lady Tigers rallied to tie it at 12 and force a Bryant timeout. It was tied at 13 and 16. But, as was the came much of the night, when the Lady Tigers appeared to be ready to make a move into the lead, a service error undermined their momentum. A long serve gave Bryant a 17-16 edge. With McKenzie Rice serving, White scored off a block and an ace increased the advantage.
Central, later, was within 20-21 but kills by White and Hart put Bryant in position to win. A pair of hitting errors by the Lady Tigers concluded the game.
The Lady Tigers were fired up for the third game and, after it was tied 6-6, put together a run to take the lead. But they couldn’t shake the Lady Hornets. After trailing by a much as 9-14, the Lady Hornets rallied behind hits from Davidson and McKenzie Rice plus an ace by Hannah Rice, to tie it 14-14 then 15-15.
The Lady Hornets just couldn’t get over the top. Central kept the upper hand. After it was tied 17-17, the Lady Tigers rolled up four straight points and Solomon called timeout. When play resumed a long serve cost Central.
Bryant eventually rallied to tie it at 24 on a killy by Hart. And when a wide return followed, Bryant led 25-24.
After a Central timeout, however, the Lady Tigers benefited from a wide hit by the Lady Hornets to tie it. The scored the next two points to keep alive in the match only to have Bryant close it out in the fourth game.
In the JV match, Bryant hardly trailed in the two games.
Alyssa Anderson contributed five kills and two blocks to go with five good serves in as many opportunities with two aces.
Brooke Howell was 18 of 19 on her serves with three aces. She also contributed a team-high eight digs. Alex Boone was 8 of 8 on serves with a pair of aces while West came up with six assists.
