Lady Hornets’ win at Van Buren sets up first-place showdown with Conway Tuesday
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).
VAN BUREN — The showdown is set now.
On Thursday night, the Bryant Lady Hornets eased to a 3-1 win over Van Buren Pointerettes, 25-10, 22-25, 25-13, 25-8, while the Conway Lady Wampus Cats eked out a 3-2 in over the Mount St. Mary Academy Belles, 18-25, 25-23, 25-8, 23-25, 15-13. So when Bryant hosts Conway on Tuesday, Oct. 20, a share of the 7A/6A-Central Conference championship will be on the line. The top seed from the conference to the Class 7A State Tournament will also be on the line.
Tuesday will also be Senior Night for the Lady Hornets.
Conway is 5-0 against 7A teams in the Central and Bryant is 4-1, the lone loss at Conway on Sept. 24. The Lady Cats are 11-2 against the league overall. Bryant is 10-3.
Bryant amassed 50 kills, 12 service aces and 52 digs in the win over Van Buren. Allie Anderson led with 28 kills and a solo block with an ace and four digs. Britney Sahlmann finished with 37 assists, 10 kills and six aces while getting in 24 of her 25 serves. She also had a solo block and seven digs.
At the net, Brittney Warner contributed five kills, Raven Loveless three, Kendall Selig two with Savannah Shelton and Alex Dillard adding one each.
Kaci Squires finished with three aces to go with 10 digs. Whitney Brown made 16 digs. Selig added an ace and five digs.
The Lady Hornets’ junior varsity team also picked up a win, 25-16, 25-9.
Ashlyn Lee contributed 16 assists, four kills, two aces and a dig. Shaelyn Smith led with seven kills. Reagan Dabbs added six kills. Reagan Blend and Jad’n Nichols had three each. Riley Hill contributed two.
Blend came through with two aces, as did Gabbie Bonvillain. Kasey Ware and Tori Allen had one each. Bonvillain also had three digs to lead the team.
