Top-Shelf Volleyball: Fayetteville and Bentonville Go Five

Battle of 6A Heavyweights   While I wasn't able to attend the game live, I watched it live on Bentonville's YouTube channel. Technology is a wonderful thing!   Follow along and see it as I did!   Set one: Back-and-forth battle with Bentonville with some early momentum (just finished writing an article). Both teams trading blows with Fayetteville up 16-15 at the midpoint. A huge rally back and forth is finally won with a tip from [player_tooltip player_id='749906' first='Molly' last='Miller']. Then a huge block and kill by [player_tooltip player_id='749917' first='Kenzy' last='Hogue']. [player_tooltip player_id='772494' first='Kassidy' last='Lucas'] with a couple of kills, including one that led off the set. [player_tooltip player_id='750653' first='Avery' last='Jo McDonald'] gets Bentonville back within two. [player_tooltip player_id='1018463' first='Lydia' last='Washington'] for Fayetteville puts the Bulldogs up 21-18. Evie Venters floats one over for the Tigers. Neither team can get much separation. Venters ties it at 22. Ivy Kirkconnell with a kill to put Fayetteville up 23-22. Set point as Bentonville hits one into the net. Venters gets it back within one! Kirkconnell puts it away for Fayetteville, up 1-0. This was really exciting volleyball. Both teams played excellent volleyball.   Set two: Starts off where we left off. Middles trading kills. Evie Venters ties it with a hammer shot. Might want to check the floor for damage. Ella Dryer and Venters hand out back-to-back kills, 3-1 Tigers. [player_tooltip player_id='749911' first='Avah' last='Brown'] drills one from the right side and follows that up with a block. This is like fast-break volleyball. [player_tooltip player_id='566871' first='Tristen' last='Hamilton'] lowers the boom to put Bentonville back up one. Venters with the ACE! Evie is a huge asset on the back row, but Brown goes off hands for another kill. Tristen goes back row for the 9-6 Tiger lead. Back-to-back aces for [player_tooltip player_id='771933' first='Preslie' last='Clubb'] have Bentonville opening up the largest lead of the night, 11-6. Hamilton with another kill. She is really warming up. [player_tooltip player_id='749917' first='Kenzy' last='Hogue'] stops the run, but Hamilton comes back for ANOTHER kill. 13-7 Tigers. Hamilton with the ACE. She is on fire. I jinxed her. Into the net. [player_tooltip player_id='772494' first='Kassidy' last='Lucas'] with a rocket for Fayetteville. 14-10 Tigers. [player_tooltip player_id='750653' first='Avery' last='Jo McDonald'] stops the Bulldogs in their tracks to go up 15-10. Two tremendous plays by [player_tooltip player_id='749919' first='Kennedy' last='Baber'] keep it in play, but Fayetteville takes the point. 17-13, and [player_tooltip player_id='772494' first='Kassidy' last='Lucas'] does it again! 17-15 after a Tiger net violation. After a long discussion, the refs call a point for Bentonville. Another amazing rally ends in a Bentonville point. Huge block by [player_tooltip player_id='749917' first='Kenzy' last='Hogue'] and [player_tooltip player_id='749911' first='Avah' last='Brown'], then a kill by Ivy Kirkconnell. Bentonville wins it on a block! 1-1. I can only imagine how exhausted the players are because I am exhausted watching.   Set three: Ivy Kirkconnell starts this one off with a back-row kill. Venters follows it up with another blast from the middle. Miller with a beautiful backset to Brown to put Fayetteville up 2-1, then Brown gets a happy birthday ball she hammers down. 4-1 Bulldogs. A hitting error ties it up, 4-4. Miller with a diving dig, but a hitting error puts the Tigers up 6-5, followed by a Venters ace and a Hamilton kill. Fayetteville calls a TO down 9-5. It happens that quickly in this match. Out of the timeout, Hamilton rockets a line shot. 10-6 after Kirkconnell gets a kill. McDonald puts one down from the right side to put Bentonville up 12-7. Lucas with another kill on a soft shot that finds a hole. Then a beautiful soft touch from [player_tooltip player_id='749911' first='Avah' last='Brown']. Now 14-11 Bentonville. Fayetteville can't cut it down beyond three. 18-14 Bentonville after a small glitch stopped the game. Miller with a block to make it 19-16. Hamilton tips one over to stop a mini run and keep the lead at four. An unreal play by Ivy Kirkconnell from the back line, over her head for a kill! Tigers take a timeout after Brown puts one down on a soft touch from the right side. Tigers lead 21-19. [player_tooltip player_id='1018463' first='Lydia' last='Washington'] ties it on a happy birthday ball. 21-21. This one is really getting good! 22-22. Venters with the block! 23-22 Tigers. Kirkconnell puts the Bulldogs up 24-23!! And she follows it up with a tip to win it! 25-23. Fayetteville up 2-1.   Set four: Fayetteville starts off up 2-0, now 3-0 after a hitting error. Fayetteville mishits a couple, and it is 3-3. [player_tooltip player_id='750653' first='Avery' last='Jo McDonald'] drives an ace to the left back. Tigers up 4-3, but [player_tooltip player_id='749911' first='Avah' last='Brown'] with a block to tie it up. Evie Venters with a bullet, 5-4 Tigers. Make that two bullets. 6-4. [player_tooltip player_id='749917' first='Kenzy' last='Hogue'] gets it back within one. [player_tooltip player_id='749906' first='Molly' last='Miller'] with a set from her knees! [player_tooltip player_id='749911' first='Avah' last='Brown'] ends the rally, and it is 7-6 Bentonville. 8-6 after [player_tooltip player_id='566871' first='Tristen' last='Hamilton'] gets back on the board. Hamilton again with a kill. 9-7 Tigers. Avery Jo with another kill. 10-7. Wow, Miller with a monster kill from the lefty on a pass! 10-9 after a net violation. Washington ties it up at 10. And the setter dump by McDonald catches Fayetteville off guard. 12-11 Bentonville. McDonald with another ACE! Bentonville keeps taking Fayetteville's best shots, and they keep fighting back. Venters makes it 15-11 Tigers. 16-12 Tigers after a hitting error. [player_tooltip player_id='566871' first='Tristen' last='Hamilton'] with a great dig to set up Dryer for the kill. Brown with a line shot to get Fayetteville back within four. 18-13 after a net violation on the Bulldogs. Brown delivers again for Fayetteville. Ohhhhh, a killer of a service error gives it right back to Bentonville. After a couple of diving digs by the Bulldogs, Kirkconnell puts it away. 19-16 after an error on the Tigers. Hamilton rips one down the line. 20-16. The Bulldogs refuse to go away, but another service error hands it back to the Tigers, now up 22-17, and a diving one-handed, over-the-shoulder dig by Hamilton sets up Dryer for the kill! Timeout Bulldogs, down 22-17. We sure seem to be looking at a fifth set coming. It is do-or-die time in set four. An ace from Baber puts the Tigers at set point. Venters tips it for the win to tie it up at 2-2! What a battle. Incredible defense being played all over the court.   Set five: This is what you hope for as a fan when two teams of this caliber tangle. Next to sudden-death dodgeball, the fifth set of a heated volleyball game is the most exciting thing in sports. Here we go. Two top teams, not just in 6A but in the state. Game on the line. Who is going to step up? Fayetteville serving, and [player_tooltip player_id='749911' first='Avah' last='Brown'] starts it off with a laser to the back row! Ella Dryer answers back with a soft touch for the Tigers. 2-1 Bulldogs after a service error. 3-2 after a Venters kill. [player_tooltip player_id='749911' first='Avah' last='Brown'] AGAIN off hands for a 4-2 lead. Brown again! Sends Bentonville to a timeout down 5-2. Avah has three kills so far in the fifth set. 6-2 off a Tigers error! 6-3 as Fayetteville returns the favor on a service error. 7-3 after, guess who, gets her fourth kill this set. Whoa...a late tip call puts Fayetteville up 8-3. With Brown out of the game, can the Tigers make a run? Each team trades errors, and it is 9-4 Fayetteville. ACE by Kirkconnell!! 10-4 and a timeout Tigers. An incredible diving save by Kirkconnell and Lucas with the kill. 11-5, now Tigers serving. Miller with the kill! Lucas with a block, and it is 13-5 Bulldogs. Bentonville still has life. 13-6 after a service error, but Washington slams home a kill! 14-7 after an error. No margin for error for the Tigers. Block at the net, 14-8! 14-9, Tigers clawing back into it! Timeout Bulldogs. This is top-shelf volleyball. Lucas with a roll shot to win it!! What a match. The Bulldogs take it 3-2!   Players of the game for Fayetteville:    Avah had a monster game for the Bulldogs. Time and time again, she came up with big kills to spark a run. She was dominant at the net, turning back shots as well. The Tigers had no answer for Brown. Whether it was a blistering sharp angle or a powerful line shot, she got the ball down. When Bentonville covered those shots, Avah would drop a soft roll shot to keep them off balance. She played one of the most complete games I have ever seen from a right side.   Of course, setting her and the other hitters was [player_tooltip player_id='749906' first='Molly' last='Miller'], who dropped 51 assists. She is one of the premier setters in all of high school volleyball. Avah's 24 kills don't even tell the story of how dominant she was. Bentonville got a lot of balls dug up, and their defense was tough all night.   Congratulations to the Bulldogs. Round two at home vs. Bentonville is a must-watch.   Stats: 24 kills | 3 blocks   Season Stats: 34 sets | 111 kills | 13 blocks     Brown wasn't alone, that's for sure. The outsides for Fayetteville also came to play. Both [player_tooltip player_id='772494' first='Kassidy' last='Lucas'] and Ivy Kirkconnell showed up in a big way. Lucas had 10 kills and Kirkconnell had 11, but Ivy also had 16 digs, some that were just incredible.   One that really stood out was her diving for a ball headed toward the seats, where she made a one-handed save over her head that Lucas turned into a kill. I believe she had a couple of aces as well. Two great sophomores who really came through with the game on the line.   Stats: 11 kills | 16 digs   Season Stats: 34 sets | 86 kills | 13 aces | 109 digs    For Bentonville:    Every time Bentonville needed a big play, Evie was there. She is such a smooth athlete on the court. She moves gracefully, then smashes one through the floor right in your face. Her point of contact with the ball is as good as I have seen this season. Venters looks the part of a college front-row player, but it is how well she moves around the court that really impressed me. She hits effortlessly from the back row and made several digs. Impressive for a middle. She had the hardest hit of the night, which I thought may have dented the floor. Evie had great placement as well. She was tough at the net on defense all night. Getting to watch two top middles battle last night was a blast.   The setter combination of [player_tooltip player_id='750653' first='Avery' last='Jo McDonald'] and Pressley Clubb impressed as well. McDonald had 25 assists, 10 digs, 6 kills and 2 aces, while Clubb had 21 assists and 10 digs.   Stats: (awaiting from Coach Berry)   Season Stats: 51 sets | 168 kills | 16 aces | 71 blocks     [player_tooltip player_id='566871' first='Tristen' last='Hamilton'] was everywhere last night for the Tigers. She went on several runs of her own during the game. Hamilton is a streaky player, but when she gets hot, watch out. Like Kirkconnell for the Bulldogs, Hamilton had an amazing back-row baseline dig where she got it up, leading to an Ella Dryer kill. Dryer was impressive as well, with 12 kills, 6 digs and 4 aces to her credit.   This was a fan's dream game. High-level offense and high-level defense on both sides of the net. This will be a game to be in the stands for when they meet again on October 22, the final day of the season. It could be for the 6A-West title...   Stats: 14 kills | 19 Digs   Season Stats: 56 sets | 217 kills | 25 aces | 193    -Robert Birch, Lead Scout-Prep Dig Arkansas. Reach out to me at <a href="mailto:bdsrecruiting10@gmail.com">bdsrecruiting10@gmail.com</a> or connect with me on X (@predigRob) Tik Tok(@prepdigrob) and Instagram(@prepdigarrob)

Battle of 6A Heavyweights