Volleyball serves strong, sweeps Heritage

FAYETTEVILLE -- Lucy Woodbury came out with a hot hand from the service line and Fayetteville followed her early lead in a 3-0 sweep of Rogers Heritage on Tuesday at Bulldog Arena. Despite playing without top hitter Haley Warner, who rested with a sore ankle, Fayetteville started strong behind Woodbury's early serves and never gave Heritage a chance for momentum in a 25-12, 25-13, 25-15 win to remain unbeaten in 7A-West Conference volleyball. "We passed really well and we defended really well, and Lucy just served lights out in the first server spot," Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said. "That's a kid who has been serving really well for us all year. She played really well (at the tournament) in Kansas City and she got a little more time defensively and it's really good to see her step it up." Woodbury had six aces with three coming in the early stage of the first set as Fayetteville (19-3, 8-0 7A-West) built a 7-1 lead. Even without Warner at the net, Ella May Powell was her usual strong self with the assists, looking often to Faith Waitsman for big points Tuesday. Waitsman, who has been a top blocker for Fayetteville this season, showed her scoring ability against Heritage with several powerful kills. She finished with a team-high 11 kills and also added five blocks. "Offensively we have a lot of weapons on our team, so it was good to see a lot of those kids play well," Phelan said. "And Ella had another great game. You don't always notice Ella, but she makes the show go. She sets the tempo and she gets our hitters in a position to be successful." The Lady War Eagles (8-8, 2-6) had brief spurts against Fayetteville in the second and third games. But overall, the tone was set from the outset and throughout the match by Heritage's inability to handle the serve. "We did not serve receive well all night," Lady War Eagle coach Sarah Miser said. "It took us completely out of our offense. We would send them free ball after free ball and every free ball we sent them I think they had a kill on. "You can't send a team like that free balls and expect to compete with them." Powell finished with 26 assists and four blocks for Fayetteville and Hadley Spresser added 19 digs and five kills. Alye Darter contributed 17 digs for Heritage and Elleson Dunnigan and CJ Landram led the Lady War Eagles offensively with nine and seven kills, respectively. Fayetteville visits Fort Smith Northside on Thursday and Rogers Heritage is at Springdale High.

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VOLLEYBALL SERVES STRONG, SWEEPS HERITAGE

VERNON TARVER

NWADG | 9/30/2015

PHOTO CREDIT: Fayetteville Athletics