September 11 in Bryant athletic history: 2009

Lady Hornets persevere to win close games in match with Cabot

EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).

Kayla Davidson led the Lady Hornets in kills Thursday. (Photo by Rick Nation)

Winning the close ones — it’s a knack. It takes perseverance, the ability to maintain intensity and effort as well as some tough-mindedness, the ability to fight through adversity.

It’s something that had evaded the Bryant Lady Hornets volleyball team this season.

Before Thursday, Sept. 10, that is.

The Lady Hornets won three tight games in a tough 7A-Central Conference match against the Cabot Lady Panthers, a perennial State Tournament team, on Thursday, improving to 2-1 in the league. Bryant won 27-25, 19-25, 26-24, 25-23.

It was a good night for the Bryant JV too with a 2-0 sweep of their counterparts from Cabot, 25-15, 25-21.[more]

The Bryant varsity is 2-3 overall with both wins at home and all three losses on the road. They’ll try to change that trend when they travel to Russellville on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

“Our front row played hard,” said Lady Hornets head coach Beth Solomon. “We spent Wednesday working on hitting since that seemed to be our major downfall on Tuesday against Mount.”

Tuesday, the Lady Hornets fell in four games at Mount St. Mary’s.

Kasey Baker. (Photo by Rick Nation)

“We’ve been working hard on passing, and have it to the level that we’d like,” Solomon continued. “Now we’ve changed focus to hitting, which seems to have really paid off.”

Senior Kayla Davidson led the way with 14 kills. Taylor Shutt and Brianna White added 11 apiece.

“I’m extremely proud of how the girls played,” Solomon stated. “We should continue this level of play on Tuesday in Russellville.”

White added seven solo blocks with two assists. Jordan Armstrong contributed 22 assists and Kasey Baker served up three aces.

“The varsity stepped in and added to how well the JV played,” Solomon noted. “They fought hard for every point and did not shut down. All of the girls worked together to achieve the win. This is a pattern that we hope will continue throughout the season.

“Our JV girls got us started off right by winning in two,” she added. “They worked hard and we had some key players really step up.”

Maggie Hart led with eight kills and Peyton Thacker contributed three solo blocks. Jenifer Hubbard served up six aces to go with seven assists.

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