The Road to Hot Springs 2A | 3A | 4A Round Up

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Day one of the Road to Hot Springs has ended and we got mostly what we expected. Day 2 promises to be a day of shaking up and shaking out the brackets. There was some history made, some tight matches and some went accord to "Chalk". Here is a round up and what I will be watching today.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>2A</strong> At Piggott</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">History Made: Izard County wins their first state tournament game in program history. 25-23 | 25-22 | 24-26 | 13-25 | 15-13</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two years ago they made their first state tournament and this year they took care of business in 5 sets to get their first win! The Lady Cougars got up early with tight wins in sets one and two then Palestine Wheatley came back strong looking to pull of the reverse sweep but Izard Co regrouped and pull out the victory. The Prize...The Hackett Lady Hornets. Izard County was led by [player_tooltip player_id='1056776' first='Kallie' last='Skidmore'] led the Lady Cougars with 23 kills and Willa Everett added 14. Layla Haynes led Palestine-Wheatley with 21 kills and Aubrey Loewer had 15 kills. Great article in the Baxter Bulletin covering the match in detail. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1056776"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6ae0c883ac767"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">[player_tooltip player_id='1056776' first='Kallie' last='Skidmore'] pulled up a double-double in Izard County's first ever state tournament win. She led the Cougars with 21 kills and had double digit digs. She stopped several runs during the match by Palestine-Wheatley and capped the win off with the final kill of the match. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Izard Co will face Hackett in round two at noon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Cotter defeats Ridgefield Christian: 3-0 25-13 | 25-12 | 25-14</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cotter's victory was particularly impressive because the Lady Warriors controlled the match from start to finish. The McNutt sisters continue to be the story. Lily supplied 20 kills, but also Cotter created scoring runs with Lily serving and Myah attacking. Cotter will face Ozark Catholic at 4 p.m. Tuesday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Hackett defeats Cutter Morning Star: 3-0 25-15 | 25-5 | 25-14</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hackett's opening performance was equally convincing. The defending champions held Cutter-Morning Star to just five points in the second set and advanced to face Izard County at noon today.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Ozark Catholic defeats Columbia Christian in five: 3-2 25-19 | 25-21 | 21-25 | 22-25 | 15-13</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ozark Catholic had the opposite problem against Columbia Christian. It won the first two sets, let the match get away, then recovered in a 15-13 fifth set. That's a significant test before facing Cotter, particularly because both teams were state semifinalists last season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">St Joseph's, Taylor and Piggott all advanced with Taylor dropping the lone set to Thaden. </h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">What I'm watching: </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hackett and Cotter look strong, but surviving a five-set match can change a team's confidence so watch out for Izard Co and Ozark Catholic. The match up of the day is going to be the Piggott vs Mansfield game at 6PM. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">3A at Quitman</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Bergman defeats CAC 3-2: 22-25 | 25-23 | 12-25 | 25-20 | 15-12</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Little bit of a shock as the 4 seed beats the 3 seed. But Bergman has been solid all season led by Senior [player_tooltip player_id='834310' first='Kinsley' last='See'] (156 kills | 3.1 k/s | 43 aces). The Lady Panthers are 21-7-1 and will take on the surprise team of the tournament, Charleston at 2pm.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Mayflower defeats Paris: 3-0 25-20 | 25-22 | 25-14</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Harrisburg sweeps Providence Academy: 3-0 25-15 | 25-15 | 25-22</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Newport defeats Lavaca 3-0: 26-24 | 25-21 | 25-23</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">What I'm watching:</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two great afternoon battles starting off with Crowley's Ridge vs Mayflower followed by Conway Christian vs Harrisburg. All four matchups today will be great volleyball. Looking forward to seeing how the combination of [player_tooltip player_id='1043669' first='Andee' last='Eades'], 268 kills and [player_tooltip player_id='1008471' first='Tenley' last='McMillon'], 257 kills attack Mayflower with [player_tooltip player_id='1007418' first='Jordan' last='Fusilier'], 226 kills and [player_tooltip player_id='749876' first='Patience' last='Webb'], 215 kills. Should be a barn burner.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">4A at Bauxite:</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Baptist Prep defeats Clarksville: 3-0 25-9 | 25-17 | 25-23</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Baptist Prep jumped all over Clarksville early and went on to sweep the Panthers in first round action. Led by setter/opposite [player_tooltip player_id='752220' first='Olivia' last='Miller'](130 kills, 27 aces, 444 assists) and middle Catherine Chapman (157 kills,28 aces, 36 blocks) , the Eagles have had to regroup after two regional losses and the loss of two key weapons. The Eagles will face off with the Brookland Bearcats. Brookland defeated Baptist Prep earlier this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Morrilton defeats Pocahontas: 3-1 25-21 | 18-25 | 25-16 | 25-19</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Westside defeats Huntsville: 3-0 26-24 | 25-17 | 25-20</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Harmony Grove defeats Wynne: 3-0 25-23 | 25-22 | 25-21</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">What I'm watching:</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>EVERY SINGLE MATCH is intriguing. Can Morrilton get revenge on an early season loss to Pottsville? Can Baptist Prep continue to win with a shortened bench against a tough Bearcat team? Bauxite and Westside is going to be must watch volleyball and Harmony Grove vs. Harrison is going to great match. It doesn't get better than playoff volleyball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-Robert Birch, Scout-Prep Dig Arkansas. Reach out to me at <a href="mailto:bdsrecruiting10@gmail.com"><strong>bdsrecruiting10@gmail.com</strong></a> or connect with me on <strong>X</strong> (@predigRob) <strong>Tik Tok</strong>(@prepdigrob) and <strong>Instagram</strong>(@prepdigarrob)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->