Jr. Lady Hornets knock off Benton
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).
The Bryant Junior Lady Hornets volleyball team ended the regular season on a high note on Monday, Oct. 9, when they dominated the rival Benton Lady Warriors, 25-11, 25-10.
The win came on the heels of a second-place finish at the Camden Fairview Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 7, when the Lady Hornets snapped an eight-match losing streak that was started at Benton on Sept. 13.
With two wins in their last three matches, the Lady Hornets are on a roll entering the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference Tournament in Sheridan which was scheduled to begin Wednesday, Oct. 11. The Lady Hornets were to open against Vilonia.
“That by far was the best match that this team has played all year,” said Lady Hornets coach Monica Parish of the win over Benton. “It was one of those matches that we had everything going our way.”
The Lady Hornets put the first game of the match away when Jenifer Hubbard served a run of points from 16 to 22. In the second game, Jordan Armstrong served as the team rolled up points 17 through 25.
“Jordan had several aces,” Parish noted.
At Camden, Bryant advanced through pool play to qualify for the single elimination championship tournament where they knocked off the host team 25-21, 26-24. In the championship game, they ran up against a tough Texarkana team and fell 11-25, 24-26.
“Throughout the day, Morgan Knight and Kayla Davidson had some great net plays,” Parish said. “Service rolls included Heather Light and Kayla Davidson. Jenifer Hubbard and Kasey Baker had excellent sets for our rally plays.
“Each game you could see our girls improving and coming together as a team,” she added. “We consistently started talking and having consistent first passing which led to us having a productive offense. Our confidence really grew during this tourney.”
Prior to the trip to Camden, the Lady Hornets suffered a 16-25, 12-25 loss at Mount St. Mary’s on Thursday, Oct. 5, though Hubbard served a run from 6 to 13 with four aces along the way.
On Wednesday, Oct. 4, a close loss at home to Cabot South, 24-26, 22-25, proved disappointing, Parish said.
“That was probably the lowest low for us because we know we can play better,” she added. “We didn’t play as a team. We had spurts but didn’t play the entire game like that.”
Though they won a game during a match at home against Sheridan on Monday, Oct. 2, it too proved to be disappointing, 19-25, 25-22, 21-25.
“We didn’t finish,” Parish said. “Jenifer had a good service game in the first game with the first six points. In the second game, Brianna Hays and Kasey Baker served well and in the third game, Kayla Davidson served points 16 to 21.”
