Bobcats, Blackhawks thrill fans in title match

Decisive third set tilts in Berryville’s favor

— A demonstration of top-notch athletic prowess and competitive spirit on the court thrilled volleyball fans watching Thursday’s district 1-4A championship match between Berryville and Pea Ridge.

The Bobcats and Blackhawks came in as co-conference champions having split their regular season meetings with a slight edge going to Pea Ridge as the top-seeded team in the tournament. The Blackhawks dominated Gravette in the semi-fi nal Oct. 22, winning in three sets, 25-20, 25-9, 25-21; while Berryville defeated tournament host Farmington, in a three-game sweep, 25-21, 25-20, 25-23, in the other semi-final setting the stage for the no-holds barred, loser-leave-town in second-place confrontation on Thursday.

The match was tied at a game apiece with Berryville and Pea Ridge splitting games one and two by identical, 25-22 scores. On Thursday, they were poised like a pair of prize-fi ghters contending for the championship trophy in a decisive game-three won 33-31 by the Bobcats after extended play. The loss drained some of the emotion out of Pea Ridge and the Blackhawks lost game four, 25-17, leaving Berryville with a 3-1 victory and fi rst place.

“We’ve got a lot of heart on this team. Sometimes it comes together and sometimes it doesn’t,” Jessica Woods, Blackhawk coach, said. “Tonight, it didn’t.

“We weren’t able to finish.”

This was volleyball at its best.

The teams exchanged hits frequently landing shots that would have knocked out many an opponent but not these two teams on this night. Many a save was desperately executed with players from both teams personifying a willingness to bend low at the knees or dive onto the fl oorto keep the ball in the air and hope afloat. Oftentimes a dig was accomplished with a wild swing of a closed fist connecting with the volleyball at the last possible moment.

“I felt that third game was going to be a game-changer. We are spotty servers, we’re not consistent. That was the most consistent we’ve served all year.

We worked on that yesterday,” Kristin Whetham, Berryville coach, said. “We put them in that situation and said ‘What are you going to do?’”

Taylor Garrison’s ace tied the game at 23-all, then the Blackhawks reached game-point on a Bobcat hitting error but a service error gave Berryville new life.

Ally Teague (dig), Hannah Needham (set) and Hannah Noble (kill) then worked the o◊ense to find the empty spot on the floor pushing the Bobcats ahead, 25-24. Sara Kahle’s kill earned Pea Ridge a reprieve but then a block went out-of-bounds pushing Pea Ridge again to the brink.

The Blackhawks dodged a bullet when Berryville’s Morgan Pando missed a spike at point-blank range when a dig came right at her.

Mikhaela Cochran put the Blackhawks back in the driver’s seat by smashing a kill for a 27-26 advantage before Berryville successfully played the ball o◊the Blackhawk front line to even the contest again, at 27-27. Pea Ridge was whistled over a four-hit violation sending Berryville fans into a frenzy as they pounded the bleachers with game-point again on the line.

Yet, the Blackhawks were not going to go quietly and their fans responded with a crescendo of cheers as Cochran and Garrisonpounded kills for a 29-28 lead.

Berryville took their turn to rally and escaped with a Pea Ridge hitting error knotting the score at 29-29.

Another Cochran kill gave Pea Ridge an opportunity dashed by a hitting error, then Teague knocked down a kill for a 31-30 Bobcat lead. Cochran once more rose to occasion and recorded a kill to deadlock the contest. Kahle got a good look from a set but the Bobcats were able to fi ght o◊the power spike and won the next point when a Blackhawk hit went long. On the ninth gamepoint of the match, Berryville was able to work their o◊ense again between Noble’s dig and Misty Rhymer setting the ball right back where Noble fi nished the game with a kill for a 33-31 Berryville triumph.

“We knew it was going to be close. We were evenly matched with them and I think it showed prevalently throughout the game,” Woods said.

Sports, Pages 7 on 10/30/2013