Van Buren sweeps Alma in volleyball

Van Buren completed its second sweep of Alma this season winning at home Monday night in a nonconference game at Clair Bates Arena. The Lady Pointers won 25-16, 25-18, 25-15. “Overall, I thought we played hard and kept our focus,” said Van Buren coach Brent Reeves. “To win three sets like that is hard to do. Alma kept fighting and finding a way back. It was a good rivalry game between the two schools.” Zoe Morrison helped pace Van Buren with seven kills and four aces. Madalyn Doolittle added 11 kills while Natalie Williams had nine. Grace Doolittle also had seven kills while freshman Brianna Ball contributed with 15 assists. For Alma, Courtney Bates had eight assists and three kills. Senior Kailyn Tyler led with five kills for the Lady Airedales. Bella Nutt had eight assists while Lillie Warnock finished with three blocks and two kills. London Blackwell had three kills. In the first set, both teams traded shots without either one gaining the upper hand. Van Buren would build a small 6-4 lead, only to have Alma come back to tie it up, 7-7. The Lady Pointers tipped in a point and began their biggest run of the set, to go up 12-7. Junior Courtney Bates halted the run, but the Lady Airedales wouldn’t get any closer than four the duration of the set. Van Buren jumped ahead 6-2 before Alma rallied behind Kailyn Tyler to take the lead 7-6 int he second set. The Lady Pointers were able to halt the Lady Airedale advance, but Alma kept increasing its lead to 9-7. After a Van Buren timeout, the Lady Pointers stormed back and went up 14-9. Alma made Van Buren work for the final points of the game. The Lady Pointers were up 18-7 before both teams began to trade shots, but Van Buren still held to a 22-11 lead. The Lady Airedales pushed to battle back and got within seven points, 22-15 before the Lady Pointers finished out the game. “We had good moments,” said Alma coach Kathy Jones. “Consistency is something we’ve focused on this season. I’m not disappointed with our effort, but there are still some things we need to work on for our defense.” Both teams jump right back to league play with Van Buren heading to Rogers on Tuesday and hosting Bentonville on Thursday. The Lady Airedales remain home this week with meetings against Beebe and Russellville.

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VAN BUREN SWEEPS ALMA IN VOLLEYBALL

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Times Record | 10/1/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Jamie Mitchell