On a night in which Conway High’s volleyball team celebrated pink, the Lady Cats put the 7A/6A Central race into gray.
With Buzz Bolding Arena decorated in pink from top to bottom on “Dig Pink” night for breast cancer awareness, the Conway girls (17-4, 10-1) came out in pink uniforms and defeated longtime nemesis Fort Smith Southside, 25-21, 25-15, 21-25, 25-23, to avenge their only conference defeat of the season.
The team are now tied for the lead in the Central Conference, where the Lady Rebels are a new member. The two schools have often been on a collision course in state tourney play with Southside was one of the top teams in the West Conference.
The first- and second-place seeding for the 7A state tournament is still up for grabs.
“They (the Lady Rebels) have us in (tiebreaker) points, though. So it was bittersweet,” said Conway coach Laura Crow. “We will have to see what happens with the rest of our games and their games for seeding. Of course we could be upset or they could. We have Little Rock Parkview and Greenwood here and Mount (St. Mary) on the road. It’s tough to play there.”
The Lady Cats, led by a strong effort at the net by McCall Wilkins and Sara Stovall, took command in the first two sets. Wilkins had 15 kills and seven blocks. Stovall added 24 kills.
Bailey McKee added 50 assists and Abby Mann had 44 digs. Rachel Skinner was the service leader.
Conway (12-2, 9-2) won the JV match, 25-16, 25-13.
Courtney Campbell had five kills and two aces for the Lady Cats. Sara Nethercutt had 17 assists. Gabby Roark had 15 digs and Allison Weatherly, two blocks.