The Paris Lady Eagles emerged from quarantine on Thursday night to defeat the Waldron Lady Bulldogs in three straight sets. The nearly two week layoff did not seem to affect the Lady Eagles as they made quick work of Waldron Thursday night at Paris Gymnasium.
Thursday night’s game was the first time the Lady Eagles had taken the court since their September 21 loss to Class 4A Lady Bearcats at Mena. Mena defeated Paris that night in three sets. The Lady Eagles had looked sluggish and almost non-competitive against Mena, leading some to wonder if players on the team were showing signs of possible illness going into the match. Mena is an outstanding team that will be a strong competitor the the 4A state championship, so nothing can be taken away from the Lady Bearcats. But the Paris performance that night was very unusual for the Lady Eagles volleyball program.
Thursday night’s decisive win against Waldron was just what the Lady Eagles needed to erase the bad memories of the trip to Mena. The Lady Eagles looked good in all phases of the game and appear to be back in mid-season form as they will now finish the regular season and prepare for what appears to be a district tournament to determine seeds in the upcoming state tournament.
After the game, I asked Paris coach Jordan Devine about the possibility of a district tournament. “We have worked really hard, but really, we didn’t get everybody back until yesterday (Wednesday). So, we just kind of worked with what we had until then. We have had just one practice with everybody. Under those conditions, you really didn’t know what to expect coming out here like that, but they were ready to play. I was proud of them. We have one game re-scheduled. We will play Booneville on Monday. Other than that, we will go to West Fork on Thursday. We do play Fountain Lake (a non-conference match) next Saturday, and then we will start the district tournament after that (the week of October 19).”
In this atypical year of high school volleyball, Resident Press will have more on the district tournament and conference seedings next week. For now, the Lady Eagles will concentrate on regaining their peak form before the begin play in the district tournament.
Again, with Little Rock Episcopal hosting the first three rounds of the state tournament, it will be very possible that teams around the state, including the 3A West conference teams, will try to avoid anything but a number one seed in their districts to possibly avoid playing Episcopal on their home floor before the state semifinals. It is possible that if Episcopal goes to the state tournament as a one seed and the state tournament host, and, for example, Paris or Hackett were to go to the state tournament, also as a one seed, it would be possible that the two teams, Episcopal and either Paris or Hackett would not meet until the finals in Hot Springs, thus avoiding Episcopal’s home floor.
But a two seed out of district could pit the two schools against each other in an earlier round on Episcopal’s home floor. So, a lot is going to be at stake in this year’s 3A West district tournament that will be held at Booneville High School.
Stay with Resident Press for complete 3A volleyball coverage all the way to the crowning of a state champion in Hot Springs. And look for Resident Press and a district tournament next week.
