PEARCY -- The Lake Hamilton Lady Wolves picked up a 3-0 victory Tuesday afternoon over West Memphis at Wolf Arena in the first round of the Class 6A state volleyball tournament.
The Lady Wolves upset the Lady Blue Devils, who were seeded fourth in the 6A East, with wins of 25-14, 25-8 and 25-11 in the opening match of the tournament.
"I felt like they were confident going into this game, which made me feel like we've come a long way," said head coach Karen Smith. "With so many sophomores, for them to be confident going into the state tournament, everything is coming together. That is what you want; you want your team to be ready."
The Lady Wolves took a 9-1 lead before service was interrupted, but the defense was able to get the ball back, allowing Lake Hamilton to stretch its lead to 15-2.
Serving five points each, sophomores Morgan Fincham and Jenny Peake did most of the work from behind the line in the first game. Seniors Elli Short and Halle Teeter each scored two for the Lady Wolves.
The second match saw senior Paige Hoover lead the team in scoring with six points from service. After jumping to a 5-0 lead, service bounced between the two teams before the Lady Wolves stretched their lead to 16-4. The host team moved to 20-6 in their next service and 23-7 before Hoover served for the final point of the game.
Fincham added five points, sophomore Brooke Powell had three, sophomores Allison Trantham and Peake each added two and Short rounded out scoring with one.
The Lady Wolves took control early in the third game with Short serving for nine points before the team lost the ball.
West Memphis bounced back somewhat, cutting the lead to 11-5, before the Lady Wolves stretched the lead back out to 15-5. The Lady Devils added three, but solid service by Teeter added seven to the host team's score for a 23-8 edge.
West Memphis was able to score only one more from service with two more service changes before the Lady Wolf defense scored the winning point.
Short had nine points, Teeter had seven and Fincham had three.
With the win, the Lady Wolves will face off against the top-rated Greenwood Lady Bulldogs today at 2 p.m.
"Greenwood plays at a little faster level than we play here in the south [part of the state]," Smith admitted. "It's going to be tough to get our timing right with them. I think we are going to be the best that we can be against them. We are going to have to play the best that we possibly can tomorrow."
Sports on 10/26/2016