AWM ousted in state volleyball playoffs

AWM ousted in state volleyball playoffs

Lady Devils forray into postseason ends against Lady Wolves

Sports Editor West Memphis qualified for its first state volleyball tournament since 2011, but ran into a flurry of slow starts and a hungry host team.

The Lady Blue Devils were eliminated in the opening round by Lake Hamilton (25-14, 25-8 and 25-11), the number 5 seed from the Class 6A-West.

'I'm happy that we did make it to this point with this team, because I think that it'll be good for my underclassmen to see what this is like,' said West Memphis head coach Erin Neeley, who was also the head coach in 2011, the year of the Lady Blue Devils' last postseason action. 'I know that it didn't end the way that we'd have liked, but making it this, and beating Jacksonville (in the opening round of the Class 6A-East district tournament) was good for us.

Lake Hamilton was just better today.'

One of the reasons that the Lady Devils prevailed could be attributed to West Memphis being slow out of the blocks. Lake Hamilton claimed early leads of 15-2 in the first set, 14-4 in the second and 10-1 in the clincher.

Neeley said that she was proud of her team for playing hard throughout the proceedings, but had a simple solution for avoiding those circumstances.

'I wish we hadn't let them score that much in the first place,' Neeley deadpanned. 'But, to our credit, we kept battling and got after them.'

West Memphis scored 3 straight points, highlighted by a Anna Nelson kill and a block at the net by Reagan Rushing, and that got West Memphis within 15-6.

However, Lake Hamilton responded with a 5-0 spurt and clinched the 25-14 final on a hitting error.

The Lady Wolves scored the first 5 points of the second set before Nelson and Cameran Aaron posted kills to help West Memphis draw closer.

With Lake Hamilton leading 15-7, Kassidy Pardy blocked a kill at the net to earn her team the serve back, and Aaron would post the first West Memphis ace of the afternoon following.

Smith would add 2 kills down the stretch, but Lake Hamilton pulled away to the 25-8 final.

In the third set, Nelson would post 2 kills and Rushing a pair of blocks, but the Lady Wolves rode the wave of an 8-0 run to win 25-11.

Lake Hamilton will advance to play Greenwood today at 2 p.m.

By Chuck Livingston