Rogers with sweep of Bentonville West

Rogers High made sure it had reserved a spot in the Class 7A state volleyball tournament later this month, while Bentonville West had its plans put on hold for a few days. The Lady Mounties clinched their postseason berth Thursday night as they turned the tables on the Lady Wolverines and claimed a 3-0 sweep during 7A-West Conference action in Wolverine Arena. It was sweet revenge for a 3-0 loss Rogers suffered on its home floor to West last month. "I told our girls we had to win," Rogers coach Christina Lawrence said after the 25-17, 25-14, 25-22 decision. "So we were going to find a way to win, or we're going to go home and not go to state. "It was a great job for our team to handle the pressure. We passed much better and it was a different lineup. I don't think I've done the same lineup all year, so it's been tough. We're just hoping to peak at the end." Emily Harris had eight kills for Rogers (12-19, 5-8), which can finish no worse than fifth and can still climb to the No. 4 seed if the Lady Mounties can sweep Springdale High in Tuesday's match. That would give Rogers a tie-breaker advantage since Springdale won the first meeting by a 3-1 margin last month. Meanwhile, West (13-18, 4-9) continued to struggle on its home court. The Lady Wolverines can still get into postseason play for the second time in as many years, but they will have to beat Bentonville High on its home floor Tuesday night or have Fayetteville defeat Van Buren. "A couple of our girls did OK, and defensively we were fighting for balls," West coach Julie Rowan said. "A couple of our hitters lost their confidence, so we had to make some changes that we didn't anticipate making. "Rogers served really well. I think that's what they did best and not let us in our system. One thing I would like to see at this point of the season is our hitters have the confidence to score points." Hannah Martin and Allie Stephens each had five kills and Madelyn Tauai delivered 16 aces for Rogers, which used a 10-2 run to pull away in the first set and scored 11 unanswered points to control the second set. The Lady Mounties owned an 18-11 lead in the third set, but West pulled within 23-22 on Winnie Spurlock's ace before Martin used a kill and a push to close out the match. Kortney Puckett had nine kills and Kerryann Ptacek added five for the Lady Wolverines, while Makenna Holmquist -- one of two seniors playing their last home match -- had three aces.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bentonville West High School Athletics

ROGERS WITH SWEEP OF BENTONVILLE WEST

HENRY APPLE

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 10/13/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Bentonville West High School Athletics