Day one of the 2020 Class 3A state volleyball tournament is in the books, and half of the field has advanced to the quarterfinals, and for the other half of the field, it has been a good season to make it to state.
Indicative of the kind of year it has been for Arkansas high school volleyball, the first game of the tournament that was to be Hackett versus Dover was cancelled due to COVID reasons on the Dover squad. Hackett was awarded a forfeit win and advanced to the second round.
In the second game of the session, the Charleston Lady Tigers advanced for the second straight year to the quarterfinals by defeating the Valley Springs Lady Tigers, 3-1. Charleston won their first two sets easily, but lost a close third set, 25-23. The Lady Tigers came back strong with an 11-0 start in the fourth set, and went on to defeat Valley Springs in four sets.
In the 4 p.m. game on Tuesday, it was the Waldron Lady Bulldogs, the number four seed from the 3A West conference, playing tough in the first round of the state tournament as they usually do, taking Harding Academy to five sets before eventually losing to the Lady Wildcats. It was just last year that Waldron upset a top seed in the first round of the state tournament.
In the final game of the first session, the Paris Lady Eagles defeated the Rose Bud Lady Ramblers 3-0 to advance to Wednesday’s quarterfinal match with Little Rock Baptist Prep. Paris, bouncing back after a tough loss in the district tournament final, was able to overcome some sloppiness at times during the match to eventually overpower the Lady Ramblers.
The wins by both Charleston and Paris, combined with the first round forfeit win for Hackett means that three of the four seeds from the 3A West conference remain alive in the state tournament entering play on Wednesday.
In other first round action:
Hoxie defeated Central Arkansas Christian, 3-0
LR Baptist Prep defeated Palestine-Wheatley, 3-0
Jessieville defeated Walnut Ridge, 3-1
Piggot defeated Ashdown, 3-1
Tomorrow’s quarterfinals games are:
Hoxie vs. Charleston, 9 a.m.
Paris vs. Little Rock Baptist Prep, 12 p.m.
Hackett vs. Jessieville, 4 p.m.
Harding Academy vs. Piggott, 7 p.m.
The winners of Wednesday’s quarterfinals advance to the semifinals on Thursday to play for the right to go to Hot Springs on Saturday to play in the Class 3A state championship game.
Resident Press congratulates all of the teams in the state tournament, especially all four teams from the 3A West who have represented the conference well in the first round.
Additional photos from the Paris Lady Eagles’ state tournament games will be posted on Facebook at Paris Eagles Sports next week. Paris fans, and any other fan base whose team is in the tournament this year are encouraged to visit the page for any photos of their teams that may have been taken during the tournament. All photos on the page are free for viewing and / or downloading.
Resident Press will have an update of Wednesday’s quarterfinal action on Thursday. Stay with Resident Press for the most complete coverage of Class 3A state volleyball tournament action!
