Win in extended second set spurs Lady Hornets to road conference victory
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).
File photo by Rick Nation
CABOT — In an epic set that may have season-long ramifications, the Bryant Lady Hornets volleyball team outlasted the Cabot Lady Panthers, 31-29. The game proved pivotal to the Lady Hornets on Thursday night after they’d dropped the opening set, 20-25, in the 7A-Central Conference match.
The tide thus turned, Bryant went on to earn a win, 20-25, 31-29, 25-15, 25-15 on the road. The difference? Between being 2-3 in league play or 3-2 going into tough matches against North Little Rock (at home on Tuesday, Sept. 19) and at Conway (on Thursday, Sept. 21).
“It was an amazing night,” declared Lady Hornets coach Beth Solomon. “The girls played so hard. I’m very proud of how they played tonight. They were selfless and played smart.
“It took us a little bit to get going in game one,” she noted. “We started fighting back. The score was 13-23 and we got it back up but couldn’t pull it out.
“Game two went back and forth, back and forth at the end,” the coach continued. “We ended up pulling it out 31-29. That was the game shifter. We used that momentum. We overcame some adversity and it got the girls fired up then we took care of games three and four pretty quickly.”
Raven Loveless produced 18 kills with a solo block. She also had a service ace. Faith Stone added 11 kills and a block while Kristen Boyle came through with nine kills and three solo blocks.
Ivory Russ finished with six kills, Truli Bates and Ashlyn Lee three each. Lexi Brown and Erin Thompson added kills from the back row.
Lee finished with 34 assists with Brown adding five. Defensively, Kyla Baker had nine digs, Lee, Reagan Dabbs and Cassie Ray five each with Thompson getting four.
The Lady Hornets served for 11 aces and got in 95 of their 98 serves. Brown had three aces and Baker two. Dabbs, Thompson, Loveless, Lee and Macey Loudon each had one.
Baker was good on all 23 of her serves and Ray was 18 for 18. Lee was good on 19 of her 20 serves while Brown got in all 13 of her serves and Dabbs all 12.
In a hard fought junior varsity match, the Lady Hornets fell 21-25, 22-25. Shannon Stewart and Casey Welch each served for two aces. Beatriz Hernandez, Ashley Davis, Cora Edwards and Kiarra Beard had one apiece.
Kennedy Kuchinski paced Bryant on the attack with four kills. Welch, Brooke Abney and Grace Camferdam had three each, Hernandez two while Imanii Jones and Beard added one apiece.
Jones had five assists, Edwards four. Stewart, Camferdam, Davis and Beard had digs.
