Volleyball unbeaten as 7A West Champs

BENTONVILLE -- A big night from the biggest hitter, and more help from some unexpected sources propelled Fayetteville past the final hurdle on its way to an undefeated 7A-West Conference volleyball championship on Tuesday. The Lady Bulldogs entered the conference finale at Bentonville owning at least a share of the crown with the Lady Tigers. And after an early bump in the road with a first-set loss, an outright title looked very much in doubt. But soon after Fayetteville went on the attack, using a monster night from Haley Warner to lead the way to a 18-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23 win at Tiger Arena. With the win, Fayetteville (30-3, 14-0) earns the top seed from the 7A-West Conference at the Class 7A Tournament next week, and receives a first-round bye. Bentonville (22-11, 12-2) also earned a first-round bye in the state tournament as the No. 2 seed from the 7A-West. "I'm really proud of our kids," Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said. "They've put up a great body of work throughout the season and I feel like they've made good progress since we got started. "They started as really talented individuals and they've come together as a team, and they've had to step up in different ways at different times. Credit Bentonville, they always play pesky defense and make us earn our points. But I was really proud of our kids." Warner put on a display for much of the second and third sets, firing strong kills while also provided strong defense on the backline. Fayetteville, after dropping the first game 25-18, went back and forth with the Lady Tigers in the second before a quick burst led by Warner built up a 21-17 lead that would hold up for a 25-22 set win. The Lady'Dogs built an early 9-3 lead in the third set and held off a furious Bentonville run late in the game, as Sadie Pate led the Lady Tigers' charge. Fayetteville then finished off the match with another hardfought set in the fourth. Warner and Abbie Kathol helped close the deal with scores to answer a big Bentonville rally. "I feel for ur seniors tonight, it being Senior Night," Bentonville coach Michelle Smith said. "I feel like we played (Fayetteville) better at their place. I think the emotions of the night got the best of us and it was hard for some of our players to focus at times, and Fayetteville did a great job of capitalizing." The Lady Bulldogs were without middle blocker Faith Waitsman (ankle sprain) for a second straight match. But despite missing their top defending blocker, others stepped up. "We made some changes on the fly," Phelan said. "We had a plan for Faith not being in there and we kind of went to the backup plan. We had Hadley Spresser playing middle and she hasn't done that her whole career and Carley Galloway, a sophomore with very limited experience, is in there. "I preach in practice that you've got to ready because you don't know when you might get that call when the pressure is on. And that's a great analogy for some of their performances tonight." Warner finished with 31 kills, 24 digs and two blocks for Fayetteville. Kathol added 18 digs, 16 kills and three aces and Ella May Powell contributed 51 assists. Bentonville got 15 kills from Pate and 12 kills from Emma Palasak. Grayce Joyce led the way defensively with four blocks and Kayton Coffee added 32 assists.

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VOLLEYBALL UNBEATEN AS 7A WEST CHAMPS

VERNON TARVER

NWADG | 10/21/2015

PHOTO CREDIT: NWADG