Conway Christian won its first volleyball match in Arkansas Activities Association-sanctioned play Thursday with a three-game win over Cedar Ridge.
Heather Law's Lady Eagles prevailed, 25-14, 25-20, 25-13.
"We have a super young team with just two seniors, and I am excited about how we are playing," Law said.
Conway Christian is 1-1 both overall and in 3A-Central play.
The Timberwolves built a 4-1 lead in the first game before Taylor Guinn took the serve for the Lady Eagles. An ace tied the game at 5-5, and a return error gave Conway Christian its first lead. Freshman Robbi Riggs served the Lady Eagles to a 10-6 lead, and back-to-back aces by Sarah Martin made it 14-9 CCS. Molly Bowman took the serve; two aces and kills by Mary Nabholz and Guinn made it 19-10. Guinn's jump-serve ace made it 23-12, and two Cedar Ridge service errors ended Game 1.
The Timberwolves again started quickly in Game 2, building a 13-8 lead before Guinn took the serve again. She served four aces with a return error in between, and Conway Christian took a 15-13 lead. Another ace, this one by Stacy Pinkett, made it 20-16, and Lindsey Carpenter served the Lady Eagles to a 24-18 advantage with two aces and another return error. The game ended again on a Cedar Ridge serve into the net, 25-20.
The Lady Eagles jumped ahead early in the third game to settle things.
From a 1-1 tie, Hannah Champlin served CCS to a 9-1 lead behind three aces and a Guinn kill. Cedar Ridge rallied within 9-6 with an ace and two return errors off Kayla Myers' serve, but Guinn settled her team down with another couple of aces and a Nabholz kill from the middle, 13-6. A couple of Bowman kills off Pilahi Iwamura's serve made it 21-10, and a Nabholz block and a Guinn kill off Lindsey Carpenter's serve ended the match.
"Hannah and Stacy have given us a lot of leadership," Law said.
Guinn and Champlin served five aces apiece. Riggs, just a freshman, added two. Nabholz had four kills and three blocks; Pinkett and Champlin led the defense with seven and six digs, respectively. Guinn delivered four assists.
Conway Christian lost the junior varsity match, 25-21, 21-25, 10-15, but the Lady Eagles played against all seniors, Law said, so she was pleased with her team's effort.
The Lady Eagles will play host to McCrory on Monday in another conference match.
CONWAY defeats
MOUNT ST. MARY
Laura Crow's Conway Lady Cats got off to 1-0 start in 7A-Central play with a five-game win at Mount St. Mary on Thursday.
Conway won, 24-26, 25-23, 18-25, 25-18, 15-13, to even its overall record at 2-2.
"I was kind of dreading playing at Mount St. Mary," Crow said. "The environment there is crazy, and it's a very tense game, very emotional.
"But I was really proud of our girls. We talked about the environment and what it was going to be like. We had some people step up and I was proud of that, from their verbal leadership roles and how focused they were. Our girls played to win, and I was very proud of them for that."
Joleigh McManis and Danielle Young combined for 33 assists (McManis 17, Young 16). Ashley Cyr led the offense with 14 kills; Jasmyn Wilkins added nine. Wilkins and Cyr led in serving with four and three aces, respectively. Defensively, Dorene Reno led with 22 digs. Young added 15. Mary Dunlap had three blocks; Payton Hart added another.
"We passed very well, and our defense was really good," Crow said. "They hit off our block a lot. We tried to make some adjustments because it's frustrating as a blocker when they're using you. It did get better. We started to shut down some of their outside hitters. They had a couple of good ones; that was where their main offense came from.
"I felt like we did a good job of trying to do what we needed to do to win. The girls were where they were supposed to be, and it worked."
The Belles triumphed in the JV match, 25-23, 25-19.
Britny Tomlin and Elizabeth Cole each had seven assists. Chelsey Hess and Hannah Cooper had 10 and seven kills, respectively. Cooper served three aces and added 11 digs; Jennie Uyeda led in digs with 12. Quay Smith led in blocks with three; Cole added another.
The Lady Cats will be in action at Spikefest in Little Rock on Saturday.
ST. JOSEPH REMAINS UNBEATEN
Luke Davis' St. Joseph Lady Bulldogs improved to 3-0 on the season with a 25-8, 25-9, 25-9 win at Rosebud on Thursday.
St. Joe improved to 2-0 in the 3A-Central.
The sophomore Justice twins led the Lady Bulldog statistics. Jessica had seven assists and five aces; Jordan added five digs.
"I really like the way our girls are coming out with a lot of intensity, especially in conference," Davis said. "Senior Lauren Seibold is having a good start all around; she is the team leader."
St. Joseph will open its home season Tuesday with another conference match with McCrory.
"With so many new teams we have to stay focused on what we are doing and get better every day," Davis said.
Rosebud won the JV match, 25-12, 25-15.
"Rosebud played several of their varsity girls during this match; however, I believe we are better than what we played tonight," Davis said.
Freshman Courtney Briggler recorded three blocks for the Lady Bulldogs.
