Arkansas high school volleyball 2A state championship: Mansfield sweeps Conway Christian

Mansfield has won four straight state championships

HOT SPRINGS — Mansfield made good on its goal of winning four consecutive Class 2A state championships Saturday at Bank OZK Arena. 

The Lady Tigers (35-2-1) defeated Conway Christian (26-2-1) 25-23, 26-24, 25-12. Alyson Edwards was named MVP for the second-consecutive season with 20 kills and closed out her career as the only one of the four seniors, who played in all four state championship games.

“It’s never been done at our school, and it’s indescribable and we have experience. If you want it, then go get it,” said Mansfield head coach Kaylie Andrews.

“After last season, this has been the group that was behind last year’s class which was viewed as the carriers of the the other three championships. And they wanted to know they could do it without the other group. It’s crazy. I love it for them. They worked hard and stayed positive and that has been encouragement for all four years.”

Coles Smith had 19 assists. Presley Curry had 18 assists and Kinley Vanmeter had 11 digs. Kaylee Ward had 14 kills.

Conway Christian, which lost 2-1 to Mansfield at the Paris Invitational on Oct. 7, was hoping the second time around would be the charm, but had to settle for the runner-up trophy.

“I thought we played hard,” said first-year Conway Christian head coach Kobe McKnight. “The first two sets, we were moving the block around and were effective. We had some spurts in the third set, but had trouble scoring.

“I’m extremely proud of the way we worked hard all year to get here.”

Emerson Rice led Conway Christian with 14 kills while Ashlyn Kinley had 20 assists and Kate Scoggins had 13 digs.

Three takeaways

1

The first two sets went down to the wire with Mansfield winning by two in both sets. In the third set, Andrews said Kaylee Ward did a good job on Rice, who had 10 of her 14 kills in the first two sets.

“No. 32 on Conway Chrisitan was killing us first set and a half. Kaylee Ward stepped up and shut her down,” said Andrews.

In addition to Ward, Andrews said Mansfield did a better job of moving its feet, getting passes to the ent and getting the ball down. Mansfield hit .407 in the third set while holding Conway Christian to .031

2

 While Mansfield did beat Conway Christian 2-1 in the Paris Invitational, Andrews said her team was tired because it played five matches that day. Going into the state championship she said the key was not to let Conway Christian get a lot of momentum.

“In the Paris tournament, we lost a set, but we played five games that day and were tired. I told them you can’t let them get a lot of points and get momentum, but if you do what you’re supposed to do, we’ll win,” said Andrews.

3

Edwards, who was named state tournament MVP, is the one player the Lady Tigers rely on at all times, said Andrews. “I moved up Alyson Edwards at the end of the season. She’s the only one who actually played in the state championship

“She’s a captain of the team. The girls rely on her and she has a good attitude. She pumped them up and deserved the MVP.”

-- Jeff Halplern

Photo by Jeff Halpern