HOT SPRINGS — Three was a magic number for the Brookland Lady Bearcats.
The Bearcats (37-5) defeated Wynne (20-11-1) 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-12) for the third time this year to capture their third consecutive Class 4A state championship at Bank OZK Arena.
Brookland defeated Wynne 3-0 on Sept. 5 and 3-1 on Oct. 24 for the 4A-East Regional title.
“It’s hard to beat somebody three times because they know you so well. It was the same way with Baptist Prep the other day. It’s harder when it’s someone you respect so well on the other side of the net,” said Brookland Coach Nancy Rodriguez.
Brookland was led by state tournament MVP Evan Polsgrove, who had 19 kills while hitting .357 with 9 digs. Chloe Rodriguez had 42 assists and 13 digs. Callie Curtis had 14 kills while hitting .281 with 10 digs. Cassidy King and 10 kills and 4 digs. Burkeley Brewer had 14 digs. Macie Murray had 7 digs.
“She struggled a little bit Thursday night,” said Nancy Rodriguez of Polsgrove. “She’s super athletic and can do everything well. She played really well and we fed her the ball. She goes out and does her job. She dominates offensively and passed well on the back row. I thought she played great, I thought Callie played great. She had a good game.”
Served by Arkansas Select Volleyball.
Wynne, which was hoping to knock off Brookland, was led by Bree Pardy, who had 12 kills and 10 digs. Ella Reed had 17 assists and Clara Davis had 10 digs.
“I’m proud of the way the girls played,” said Wynne Coach Codie Zeigler. “The score didn’t reflect it in the third set. We wanted to block better and that didn’t happen tonight. We weren’t pressing enough. With a time like Brookland you’ve got to find points when you can.”
Brookland won the first set which featured three ties and one lead change by using a 6-1 run to turn a 14-12 lead into a 20-13 advantage.
The second set featured 12 ties and five lead changes with the latest tie at 21-21. Lia Bunch had a kill to put Wynne up 22-21 before Hall’s serve went long, tying the match at 22-22. Hall’s attack went into the net putting Brookland up 23-22 before a kill by Polsgrove and an ace by Brewer sealed the game at 25-22.
“The stage is big and there’s a little bit of nerves,” said Nancy Rodriguez. “The first set we played pretty well and the second set, they changed things up and we had to adapt to that. We play a faster game than they do. It takes a little bit to get used to that.”
Brookland dominated the third set jumping out to a 7-1 lead and pushing it to 17-10 before Polsgrove had three kills in a 6-0 stretch to push the lead to 23-10. A kill by Wynne’s Lia Bunch broke the string to make it 23-11. A net violation made it 24-11. Pardy had a kill before Polsgrove finished the match off.
“I think we did really good and worked together overall,” said Polsgrove. “I’m really happy [about being MVP]. I thought it could have gone to anybody.”
Winning three in a row was rewarding for Nancy Rodriguez, whose teams played a schedule that featured 6A champion Conway, 6A semifinalist Fort Smith Southside, 5A champion Shiloh Christian and victories against 5A runner-up Greenbrier, 4A semifinalist Valley View, 5A semifinalist Benton and 5A-East co-champion Marion in the regular season.
“You’ve got to put your kids in a situation where when they’re on the big stage, they know what to expect,” said Rodriguez.
“Who gets to do that? Not many people. A lot of people didn’t think we could get back here. I told them to chart their own path. I know them on a personal level. They’re hard to coach, they’re so opinionated and hard headed.”
Zeigler was proud of her team getting to the state finals.
“I have crazy amounts of praise,” said Zeigler. “We’ve been up and down and stayed on uphill trend and hit a high peak at the end. I know people didn’t think we could beat Mena and Pulaski Academy when we’re down 2-0.”
Cover photo by Joshua Gao
