Though they lost 19-25, 17-25, 25-22, 17-25 to the eventual State runner-up Fayetteville Lady Bulldogs in the first round of the Class 7A State Tournament last year, the Bryant Lady Hornets realized something about themselves. They played toe-to-toe with the perennial State powerhouse and made them sweat out every game of the match.
Spurred on by that performance and the return of seven players for their senior season, the Lady Hornets enter the 2015 season with deserved confidence and high expectations.
Returning as well are head coach Beth Solomon and assistant Cristina Meyer after both missed last season as they completed pregnancies.
The Lady Hornets get the new campaign under way with a pre-season jamboree at Benton today. At 5:30 this evening, they scrimmage Pulaski Academy at the Benton Junior High gym, followed at 6 with a scrimmage against Mount St. Mary Academy. After a break, they take on Little Rock Christian at 7:30 p.m., Fountain Lake at 8 (at the Benton Arena) then close out against the host Lady Panthers at 9 (in the Arena).
“We had a really good summer,” Solomon said. “The girls have been working really hard. We haven’t had many days off. They are ready to go. They’re ready to play. This week, getting ready for (the Jamboree), we’ve been tweaking the little things, getting the lineup set like we think it’s going to be.
“I’m really happy to be back,” she stated. “I’ve got a really good group of girls. I’m definitely re-energized. We’re definitely fired up and ready to get going.”
The team’s seniors include all-State, all-conference setter Britney Sahlmann and all-conference and all-State Tournament outside hitter Allie Anderson and all-conference honorable mention libero Whitney Brown.
“My seniors, for the most part, will probably all be on the floor,” Solomon said.
Along with Sahlmann, Anderson and Brown, the seniors are Savannah Shelton, Kaci Squires and Shayla McKissock, all defensive specialists, and middle blocker Kendall Selig.
“Britney’s back as a three-year starter,” the coach mentioned. “She and Allie and Whitney all played on the same J.O. (Junior Olympic) team this summer so they’ve literally been playing together all year. Allie and Britney were both named to the Arkansas Tech all-camp tournament team when we went up there to camp. There’s only six spots for all the teams there and we got two of them. They look pretty good.”
Sophomore Raven Loveless will also start at outside hitter for the Lady Hornets.
“Her hitting style is very similar to Allie so it’s going to be really nice to have them both on the court,” Solomon said. “They exchange pretty well and complement each other and work with each other to make each other better.”
Selig and junior Alex Dillard are the middle blockers in the first rotation. Dillard played considerably as a sophomore. Junior Sarah Kennedy and Shelton will be on the court.
“Actually, Savannah and Sarah can also be back-up setters,” Solomon mentioned.
McKissock and Squires will be in the rotation to play the back row for the middles.
“All of my seniors are good enough to be on the floor,” the coach said. “In fact, this is the first year that I can remember when we have a ton of juniors and sophomores that can sub in. I have more subs that are capable of going in and playing at a varsity game than I’ve ever had before.”
The juniors include Kyla Baker, Shaelyn Smith, Reagan Blend, Kennedy, Riley Hill, Kasey Ward and Dillard. The sophomores, along with Loveless, are Reagan Dabbs, Jad’n Nichols, Brittney Warner, Tori Allen, Gabbie Bonvillain and Ashlyn Lee.
Asked what she’ll be looking for in tonight’s outing, Solomon said, “One of the things we’ve been trying to hit on is the communication, the talking. These girls have been together. On a typical day, they’re communicating, they’re playing together. But we do have our moments when we’re not. So the consistency, the talking, the communication — these girls can carry on a conversation while they’re playing.
“We’re having a few issues with serve-receive so we need to get those worked out before we get into conference play,” she added. “We’re still working on our specialty sets and who needs to be running what, making sure we know which rotation we want to run which play in.
“I’d also like to get some of those subs in and see how we’re going to flow if we get in a bind and we need to put somebody in to play,” the coach concluded.
The Lady Hornets will scrimmage again on Saturday in the annual Blue-White showcase around noon. They open the regular season at home against Fountain Lake on Tuesday, Aug. 25.
“We are confident,” Solomon said. “I try not to be too confident. I don’t want to be in that situation where we under-estimate anyone we play. We’re just starting the season. We still have some things that need to be tweaked and fixed.”
