August 29, 2012 Edition

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Walnut Ridge High School's Lady Bobcats claimed the 2012 championship in Saturday's Cave City Volleyball Classic out of a field of approximately 11 teams. The Lady Bobcats are (front, from left): Hannah Massey, Nikki Pyle, Ashlyn Cothern, Makayla Daniels; (standing) Janna Berry - coach, Brooke Midgett, Baylee Bridges, Brandi Gates, Caroline Kelley, Anna Bland, Sabrina Knight and Shane Duncan - assistant coach. Stephann Petty (not pictured) is also a member of the team, and Jodie Reithemeyer is manager.

Lady Cats win Cave City tourney

Nathan Hibbard
Staff Writer

The Walnut Ridge Lady Bobcats won the championship of the Cave City Invitational Volleyball Tournament on Saturday at Cave City. The Lady Cats won five matches without losing a set in taking the title.

Pool play

Walnut Ridge defeated Cedar Ridge 25-12, 25-9 and Cave City 25-15, 25-10 in pool play.

For the two matches, Anna Bland was a perfect 32-of-32 from the service line, with two aces. Ashlyn Cothern had six aces and Caroline Kelley had 16 kills. Sabrina Knight had 21 assists. Brooke Midgett had two blocks, and Nikki Pyle had one. Hannah Massey led the team with 17 digs.

Tournament play

The Lady Bobcats earned the number-one seed and opened tournament play against Bay, sweeping the Lady Yellowjackets 25-18, 25-15.

Kelley had eight kills, and Cothern led with eight assists. Pyle had three blocks, and Bland had 12 digs. Massey led all servers, going 15-of-15 from the line, with an ace.

Walnut Ridge outlasted Trumann in an exciting semifinal match 26-24, 25-21.

Kelley had 10 kills, and Bland had nine. Knight had 12 assists, and Midgett had a block. Massey again led all servers, going 17-of-17 from the line, with two aces. She also picked up 23 digs.

The Lady Bobcats advanced to the tourney finals, where they faced Harrisburg's Lady Hornets. Harrisburg had defeated Walnut Ridge in a marathon regular-season match just two days earlier, but this day belonged to the Lady Bobcats. Walnut Ridge dominated the match from the outset, sweeping the Lady Hornets 25-12, 25-14.

Kelley led the offense with 14 kills. Knight finished with 11 assists, while Cothern had 10. Massey and Bland each had six digs. Midgett and Pyle each had a block.

For the day, Massey led all servers, going 68-of-68, with seven aces. She also led in digs, with 51, while Bland finished with 45. Cothern had the most aces, with 13. Kelley recorded 49 kills on 122 attempts. Knight finished with 30 assists. Midget had five blocks, and Pyle had four.

Massey was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, while Bland was named to the All-Tournament team.

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