Try to tell Bentonville and Fayetteville that Thursday’s meeting was only supposed to be a “benefit match.”
The two teams battled with the intensity of a typical 7A-West Conference showdown, going three games before Fayetteville came away with a 2-1 victory in Tiger Arena.
“It was a great benefit match,” said Bentonville coach Michelle Coens about the Cancer Challenge, where the teams also raised money for cancer awareness and sported different colored jerseys for the cause.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. It was an amazing goal, and win or lose, we finished with smiles.”
The Lady Purple’Dogs took the lead for good after snapping a 3-3 tie with four straight points in the decisive third game, with Aubrey Edie’s kill making it a 7-3 score. Bentonville pulled within 9-7 on Kelsey Parks’ block, but Fayetteville pulled away at that point for a 15-10 victory.
“It’s going to be the first of many showdowns between us and Bentonville,” Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said. “We’re great friends off the court, but we’re rivals on the court.”
The Lady Tigers dominated the first game, jumping out to a 10-3 lead en route to a 25-14 victory. Fayetteville, on the other hand, took early control of the second game and grabbed a 9-4 lead after a Bentonville player was called for being in the net.
Bentonville responded and eventually took a 16-15 lead on Melissa Bakke’s kill, and both teams battled back. The lead switched hands on three more occasions, but Fayetteville snapped a 23-23 tie with the final two points of the game and forced a decisive third game.
“We had a lot of young players out there at the time,” Phelan said. “There were times when I counted five sophomores on the floor at the same time. We got an education in that first game, but we were able to pick up some confidence in the second and third games. Now we have to go back to work for the season opener.”
“That first game was almost close to perfect,” Coens said. “In the second game, I thought we got a little rattled. In the rally-point system, you can’t get down 5-1. It made for an uphill battle. We had a good finish, but the loss made it bittersweet.
“It took the wind out of our sails, and there’s no excuse for that.”
Bentonville 2, Huntsville 0
In the first match, Bentonville dominated from the outset, jumping out to a 13-1 lead and scored the last eight points for a 25-3 victory. Rebecca Brown had three kills during the early run.
The Lady Tigers continued the domination in the second game, scoring 15 unanswered points to blow the game open for a 25-4 win. Shayne Wiedemann served a trio of aces in the outburst.
Fayetteville 2, Huntsville 0
Fayetteville made an early statement by scoring the first 11 points and went on to post a 25-7 victory. Paige Gocke had a trio of kills and a block during the Lady Purple’Dogs’ early outburst.
Huntsville kept things close in the early portions of the second game. Fayetteville, however, went on a 12-1 run to pull away and claimed a 25-9 decision.
“We’re moving up to Class 5A this season, so we wanted to play some big schools to help us out,” Huntsville coach Angela Baker said. “I think we were very nervous at first because of the big hitters the other teams have.
“It’s a learning experience for us, and it was a hard lesson. But hopefully this will make us better as the season approaches.”
AT A GLANCE
Cancer Challenge
The three teams participating in the Cancer Challenge had set a goal of raising $5,000 through their matches and donations. That goal was surpassed with $5,300 donated before the matches began.
Each team wore different color jerseys in support of different types of cancer. Bentonville wore pink jerseys for breast cancer, Huntsville wore peach jerseys for uterine cancer and Fayetteville wore teal jerseys for ovarian cancer.