BENTONVILLE — The home-standing Bentonville Lady Tigers, who tied for the 7A-West Conference championship, brought an end to the landmark season of the Bryant Lady Hornets, 25-15, 25-11, 25-15, at the Class 7A State Tournament on Wednesday.
The 7A-West completed a sweep of the quarterfinals of the tournament. Fort Smith Southside defeated Mount St. Mary Academy of Little Rock, 25-23, 13-25, 25-23, 25-16; Fayetteville ousted North Little Rock, 25-16, 25-9, 25-18; and fourth-seeded Springdale Har-Ber stunned 7A-Central champion Conway, 25-18, 25-22, 25-22.[more]
The Lady Hornets finished the season 13-8 but, more importantly, surged down the stretch to garner a No. 3 seed at State and threatened to finish higher. And it’s a young team. Seniors Amber Cope and Sydney Manley were key contributors and leaders but the rest of the team will return next year.
"There is so much that the girls have accomplished this season,” stated Lady Hornets head coach Beth Solomon. “They've put a new face on Bryant volleyball; given it a new name. When people hear about a Bryant volleyball match they want to come watch the game. The students get excited to come watch and we finished the season with a student cheering section. These things will continue to grow into next season. News of how good the girls did this season traveled throughout Bryant. I would run into strangers at restaurants that would see my Bryant volleyball shirt and comment on the good things they were hearing. The bigger crowd and better fan support are new to Bryant volleyball. The girls have literally made a name for themselves, and it's a very positive one. That's off the court.
“On the court the girls have done things that haven't happened since I've been at Bryant,” she continued. “We improved our tournament play tremendously when compared to previous seasons. We finished our pool play at the Little Rock Spikefest in second place and at Russellville's Volley in the Valley tournament in first place. The girls fought hard, playing over 12 hours of volleyball, to finish the Russellville tournament with a runner-up plaque. They brought home a runner-up plaque in the silver division at the Conway tournament as well.
“Coming home from tournaments with wall art is a big accomplishment for any team, and our girls worked hard to start the process for Bryant volleyball,” the coach said. “Perhaps it stemmed from the Missouri State University Camp this summer when our JV girls brought home the Silver Division Championship trophy. Any time you get to come home from a camp or a tournament with some kind of award, it shows what you have in store for your season, and future seasons to come.
"The Russellville tournament was the turning point in the season for the girls,” Solomon mentioned. “After that tournament we went on a huge winning streak, including breaking our losing streak at home games. The girls finished the second half of conference play with only two loses, one to Conway and one to North Little Rock. They had a huge win at Mount and, even though they lost the match with Conway, they took a game from Conway, something that I haven't seen happen in my six years at Bryant.
“The girls never fell below fourth place in conference play throughout the season and, despite being tied with Mount for second for what seemed like the entire season, we finished up in third and won a spot at the State Tournament.
“The girls could have been satisfied at any point with any of these things, but they weren't. They weren't done making history. The girls made it past the first round of the State tournament, not just with a win, which hasn't been done since I can remember at Bryant, but with a win in three. They played amazing — kicking butt and taking names in the process. To quote Coach (Julie) Long, ‘The girls had a chip on their shoulder and had something to prove.’”
In that win over Rogers Heritage, Maggie Hart and Courtney Davidson each had nine kills. Brianna White produced three blocks and Hannah Rice two. In addition, Hannah Rice served up a season-high eight aces while getting in 17 of her 18 serves. She was also 47 of 48 passing with 18 assists.
Defensively, Lauren Reed had 13 digs, Manley nine and Hannah Rice eight.
That led to Wednesday’s match with Bentonville.
Hart and McKenzie Rice led with four kills each. White and Davidson had three apiece with White making four blocks. Hannah Rice finished with nine assists but was 59 of 60 passing. She had one ace. Reed and Davidson contributed nine digs each.
“Our serving made a huge difference in our play,” Solomon commented. “You can tell when Hannah has 8 aces in one game and leaves with only one ace the next game. It wasn't anything that we did different, it was more of the fact that we played against a really good team that was on today.
“Our best hitters only had four kills on the day, they didn't have a lot of errors, they just couldn't get around the block that (Bentonville) kept putting up,” she continued. “When they did get around the block, Bentonville didn't let a single ball hit the ground that I can remember. We really haven't come up against a team like Bentonville at all this season. I really think that they will be in the finals on Saturday.
“I am not upset with how the girls played, especially the third game,” Solomon related. “They fought for every point and left everything they had on the floor. Before the third game I asked the girls, "If this is going to be the last game that you play this season, what do you want it to look like?" I must have said it 10 times. Coach Long reminded the girls what all they had accomplished this season and told them to play with pride. The girls took our comments to heart and came out fighting the third game. The girls refused to quit and made Bentonville work hard to win the third, and final, game.
“There were, shockingly, very few tears,” she concluded. “The girls knew that they had accomplished and proven more than they started off the season dreaming to. I think that throughout the season the girls continuously surprised themselves and realized what they were capable of. Every time they accomplised a dream, a goal, they were ready to set a new one and move forward to accomplish that goal. The girls went out with a huge bang and have set a new precedent for Bryant volleyball. We can't wait until volleyball 2011 starts!”
