Lady Hornets dump Fairview
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).
TEXARKANA — The Camden Fairview Lady Cardinals had designs on challenging perennial AAAAA-South Conference volleyball powers Texarkana and Sheridan when the season began and, through the first half of the league’s double round-robin schedule they did all but beat those two teams.
Though still not strong enough to overtake either of the top two, Fairview appeared to be in good position for a third-place finish in the league, until they came to Bryant on Thursday, Sept. 30.
The Lady Hornets surprised the Lady Cardinals 15-8, 15-9 to earn their third win in the last four outings as they continued to turn around their season.
Tuesday, Bryant took that hot streak to Texarkana, however, and the long trip proved even longer as a fired up Lady Razorback team which had been given a tough match in Bryant earlier in the season, cooled the Lady Hornets 15-2, 15-5.
“We still have a good chance of evening our record,” said Lady Hornets coach Joan Hunter, whose team opened the season with a disappointing four straight losses. “If we can just get these last three games, we can be 6-6 going into the conference tournament.”
The Lady Hornets were set to host El Dorado Thursday at 5 p.m., with no junior varsity game preceding the varsity action. They finish out the regular season at Little Rock McClellan on Oct. 14 and at home against Little Rock Parkview on Oct. 19.
“At Texarkana, we played like we were dead,” Hunter reported. “And I didn’t know it until after the game that a couple of the girls had gone to the doctor the day before. Everybody was sick and on medication. We didn’t even look like the same team. And it wasn’t just one of us. Everybody had a bad game.
“Texarkana played a really good game,” Hunter added. “They played a lot better that when they played us before. So they were ready for us. They took advantage.”
Hunter expects her team to bounce back against El Dorado.
“They only have eight players,” she noted. “I hope everybody’s back to feeling normal. I’m planning on winning the next three.
“We were on a good roll. We had played well. Beating Fairview was important. That was an upper for us because they had beaten us before. We didn’t have a good game when we played down there, so I knew if we had a decent game with could play with them. Everybody worked together and hustled, and we had lots of teamwork.”
