"I'm excited," Smith said. "I think it's going to be fun."
Smith, Cone, Zoey Dalmut, Avery Mullory, Danielle McKown, and Brynlee Henry are seniors who get to end their careers in the Class 5A state tournament, which includes the first three rounds, beginning on Tuesday and running through Thursday, on their home court.
"Knowing it was going to be here was super exciting," Cone said. "It's home. We want to play at home. To have our people here is really cool."
Of course, there was the expectation of knowing they had to earn their way into the state tournament and had to finish in the top four of a rugged 5A-West conference. That just served as motivation.
"Last year, we didn't make it to state," Smith said. "This year we have about the same team. We worked really hard."
Cone also felt a little added pressure since her dad, Drew, is Van Buren's athletic director who presented the proposal to the Arkansas Activities Association for Van Buren to host the three-day tournament before the championship games at the Hot Springs Convention Center on Saturday.
"He told me multiple times, you'd better make it," Aspen Cone said.
Van Buren lost just one starter from last year, so they already had expectations of being pretty good anyway. A summer camp at Branson, Mo., provided the proof.
"I thought it going into the season," Smith said. "We went to the Branson Camp and we won. We were playing really good teams and were playing really good."
Smith reached the 1,000-kill mark for the season and now has 1,018 going into the state tournament.
Cone went over the 1,000-assist mark earlier this season and has 1,258 for her career.
Junior Aubrie McGhee also went over the 1,000-kill mark this season and finished the regular season with 1,007.
"They're great kids not only on the court but off the court," Van Buren Coach Brent Reeves said. "Their incredible leaders, very humble and great teammates. They're what you want from your kids."
McGhee deflected the credit to her teammates.
"It's a team effort," McGhee said. "It's not just me. It takes a pass and a set to get a kill."
While just a junior, McGhee also felt the pressure of hosting the state tournament but knew the Lady Pointers would relish it.
"I like pressure, but I was super pumped," McGhee said. "It means there's a lot of opportunities to show who we are because Van Buren is going to make something big out of it."
The Lady Pointers will be the No. 3 seed from the 5A-West, finishing 10-4 in the conference, finishing one game back of Farmington and behind undefeated conference champion Shiloh Christian. Van Buren was the only team to actually win a set from Shiloh Christian, which finished 3-0 in 13 of the 14 conference matches.
"I knew during the summer," McGhee said. "We were a young team last year and a lot of us came back. It came from offseason and workouts and the team bonding we... Click here to read full article
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