by Rob on Oct 23, 2009 at 10:24 AM  The end of any season is bittersweet but it’s especially so when the end comes sooner than you’d planned.
The Bryant Lady Hornets volleyball team had their sites set on finishing the season with a trip to the Class 7A State Tournament in Van Buren, taking a shot at making some noise there.
by Rob on Oct 21, 2009 at 9:36 AM By Rob Patrick NORTH LITTLE ROCK — If this was it; if the Bryant Lady Hornets’ hopes of reaching the Class 7A State Tournament in Van Buren ended on Tuesday, Oct. 20, with a 3-0 loss at North Little Rock; and, if this season begins a new era of success for the Lady Hornets program, the senior class of 2009 will at least be able to look back and say, “We were there. We helped turn it around.” It won’t be certain until the coaches get together on Wednesday, Oct. 21, to compare scores but with their 11-25, 15-25, 14-25 loss at North Little Rock coupled with Cabot’s 3-1 win over Van Buren, the Lady Hornets may well have been knocked out of a State big despite being tied with Cabot for the sixth spot with a 6-8 league mark. As best as can be determined, that’s the best conference record by a Bryant team this decade.
by Rob on Oct 19, 2009 at 2:29 PM VAN BUREN — As fine a season as the Bryant Lady Hornets have had, particularly in light of past struggles, there is little room for error in their quest to reach the Class 7A State volleyball tournament. After losing in four games at Van Buren, 18-25, 22-25, 25-23, 11-25 on Thursday, Oct. 15, the Lady Hornets must win at North Little Rock in their final conference game on Tuesday, Oct. 20, or hope that Van Buren follows up its victory with another one against Cabot that evening. “Going into Thursday night, we were tied for third in conference,” noted Lady Hornets coach Beth Solomon. “After the loss, we’re doing to being tied for fifth. The North Little Rock match is crucial for us. The girls have got to come out and play and be ready to step back up.
by Rob on Oct 13, 2009 at 3:06 PM The Bryant Lady Hornets freshman volleyball team closed out the regular season with a two-game sweep of the Cabot South Junior Lady Panthers on Monday night. The 25-13, 25-13 victory finalized the championship of the South Division of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference. The Lady Hornets improved to 12-2 in league play and will be the division’s top seed at the league’s post-season tournament which is set to commence on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at Bryant. The Bryant White eighth grade team also finished the season on a winning note, 25-12, 25-11, against Cabot South.
by Rob on Oct 9, 2009 at 2:29 PM The Bryant Lady Hornets freshman volleyball team clinched its first regular-season championship of the South Division of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference with a 2-1 win over Conway Blue on Thursday, Oct. 9. Bryant won 25-14, 24-26, 25-23 to improve to 11-2 in the league with one game left to play on Monday, Oct. 12 against Cabot South. Even with a loss in that final regular-season game, the Lady Hornets will be the top seed from the South at the CAJHC post-season tournament, which will be held in Bryant starting Wednesday, Oct. 14. As the top seed, the Lady Hornets will receive a first-round bye in the tournament. Mount St. Mary’s could still tie for the division championship but because Bryant swept the Mounties, the top seed to the tourney would go to the Lady Hornets. The team includes, McKenzie Adams, Alyssa Anderson, Taylor Cromwell, Courtney Davidson, Logan Davis, Kaitlyn Gaiser, Britten Hays, Brooke Howell, Sarah McPherson, Jordan Nichols, Tyler Diane Platt, Hannah Rice, McKenzie Rice, and Kaylon Wilson.
by Rob on Oct 9, 2009 at 3:05 AM  Bouncing back from their first loss since Sept. 22, the Bryant Lady Hornets may have put together their best night of volleyball on Thursday, Oct. 8, when they took down the Russellville Lady Cyclones in three straight games.
The win, 25-17, 27-25, 25-19, improved Bryant to 6-5 in 7A-Central Conference play going into their final three league matches. The Bryant JV swept to victory as well, 25-19, 25-22.
by Rob on Oct 7, 2009 at 10:03 AM  CABOT — In their nine previous 7A-Central Conference matches, the Bryant Lady Hornets volleyball team lost the first game six times including two during the three-match win streak they took into Tuesday’s trip to Cabot.
Make it seven of 10. And this time, they were unable to rally to keep their steak alive as Cabot forged a victory, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23, in another tight contest. Bryant’s junior varsity managed a victory, 25-14, 25-23. The varsity loss dropped the Lady Hornets to 5-5 in league play and continued their struggles on the road where they’re now 1-3. They get a final conference match at home against Russellville on Thursday before finishing the league slate at Conway, at Van Buren and at North Little Rock. They finish the regular season at home in a non-conference match against Sheridan on Thursday, Oct. 22.
by Rob on Oct 5, 2009 at 12:54 PM  The Bryant Lady Hornets are winning the close ones now, even if they have to start in one gym and finish in another.
For their third consecutive 7A-Central Conference victory, the Lady Hornets played the Mount St. Mary’s Belles even over four games on Thursday, Oct. 1. Before the fifth and deciding game, the lights went out at one end of the high school gym. Everyone packed up and moved to the middle school gym and Bryant proceeded to eke out a 15-13 win to take the match.The Bryant JV continued its fine play as well winning, 25-18, 25-13. With the win (20-25, 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 15-13), the Lady Hornets improved to 5-4 in conference play, 2-0 in the second half of the league’s double round robin schedule. They travel to Cabot, trying to get a season sweep of the Lady Panthers, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, then host Russellville in hopes of avenging an earlier loss on Thursday.
by Rob on Sep 30, 2009 at 9:39 AM  By Rob Patrick LITTLE ROCK — Not that it isn’t fun most of the time, but there was a point during their match against the Little Rock Central Lady Tigers that the Bryant Lady Hornets volleyball team appeared to be having a great time. Of course, it helped that they were reeling off one point after another during a 12-1 run in the second game of a three-game sweep of their 7A-Central Conference rivals at the Central gym. The Lady Hornets improved to 4-4 in league play as they began the second half of the conference round-robin, strengthening their place in the standings and their chance at reaching the Class 7A State Tournament. According to head coach Beth Solomon, Bryant was in sixth place going into the match and may have moved up to fifth with the win. Six teams from the league advance to State. The varsity won 25-20, 25-10, 25-23 after the junior varsity rolled to 25-17, 25-20 wins.
by Rob on Sep 25, 2009 at 2:22 PM  If the Bryant Lady Hornets look back on their 2009 volleyball season, it may be they’ll point to Thursday, Sept. 24, as a turning point.
They were just a few points away from suffering their fourth disheartening loss in a row. In fact, they were in that predicament three times. But in each instance, they found a way to rally and the result was a dramatic victory over the North Little Rock Lady Charging Wildcats, 21-25, 18-25, 25-23, 29-27, 16-14. Head coach Beth Solomon stated, “The girls probably played the best match they’ve played.” The win improved the Lady Hornets to 3-4 over the first half of the 7A-Central Conference schedule, 3-6 overall going into a trip to Jonesboro on Saturday for the annual Arkansas State Playday. The Bryant JV took their match to the wire as well but North Little Rock prevailed at the end, 28-26, 24-26, 15-13. The two teams visit Little Rock Central on Tuesday, Sept. 29, in a return to conference play.
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