Lady Hornets win match with Central
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).
Allison Mitchem had eight kills, 12 digs and was serving when the Bryant Lady Hornets reeled off 10 straight points to overcome a 3-11 deficit in the fourth game of their match against the Little Rock Central Lady Tigers. The Lady Hornets went on to win AAAAA-Central Conference contest 15-9, 6-15, 15-12, 15-12.
Mitchem contributed a pair of aces and the team came up with nine digs during the comeback run in the game played Thursday, Sept. 26.
In other action during the week, the Bryant team came back after going winless in pool play to win the consolation championship in the Silver Division at the MidSouth Playday tournament in Jonesboro on Saturday, Sept. 28. On Tuesday, Oct. 1, the Lady Hornets suffered a straight-game loss 0-15, 5-15, 6-15 to North Little Rock.
The results left the Lady Hornets 4-12 overall and 2-4 in conference play going into a league game at home against Mount St. Mary’s on Thursday, Oct. 3.
In the win over Central, Katie Jones and Whitney Wingard each had five kills. Wingard added eight blocks to tie Cindy Bradford for team-high honors. Chandace Cantrell was 18 of 20 with five aces in service. Melanie Loyd and Ashleigh McCorkel added three aces each. Loyd also came up with 12 digs.
At Jonesboro, the Lady Hornets had a rough morning in pool play, losing to Willow Springs, Mo., Paragould and St. Mary’s Episcopal, a team from Tennessee. But they bounced back that afternoon to defeat Harrisburg and Doniphan, Mo., to take the consolation title.
“The girls adjusted well that afternoon and played strong as a team,” commented head coach Doug Maxwell. “We were able to see several different styles of play and the team did a good job of making adjustments.”
In the tournament, Cantrell led the team with 10 kills, Melody Kocsis had eight including five in the finals. Mitchem also had five of her seven kills for the tournament in the finals. Bradford pitched in with seven kills for the tourney too.
Loyd served up five of her eight aces for the tournament in the finals. Cantrell and Austyn Wingard contributed six aces each. Defensively, Loyd had 12 digs for the day including five in the finals. Mitchem had nine digs overall.
On Tuesday, the Lady Hornets ran into what seemed to be a never-ending stream of high leaping front line players for North Little Rock. Despite the rough first game, Bryant jumped out front in the second. Cantrell had a kill to break the ice. After North Little Rock tied it at 1, the Lady Hornets upped the advantage to 3-1 with Amanda White in service. A serve-receive error accounted for a 2-1 edge, then White served up an ace.
North Little Rock broke serve and tied it at 3 but the Lady Hornets regained control and a kill by Mitchem made it 4-3. But that was Bryant’s last lead of the night. The Lady Charging Wildcats tied it at 4 and after the two teams battled through several exchanges, took the lead for good, building a 13-4 lead before Bryant could scratch again.
In the final game, North Little Rock jumped out to a 4-0 lead and held a 7-2 edge when the Lady Hornets pulled within two with Cantrell serving up a pair of aces. But the visitors reeled off seven unanswered points after that to all but put the game away.
