BRYANT -- Lakeside began the new volleyball season with coach Rhonda Thigpen with a 3-0 victory at Bryant on Tuesday.
The Rams (1-0) opened the season with a convingin 25-20, 25-7, 25-21 victory a year after going 33-5-1 and advancing to the Class 5A state quarterfinals in Harrison. Former Lakeside coach Allison Frizzell-Kizer was hired in January to succeed Danny Prescott at Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia. Thigpen previously coached at Henderson State.
Junior sett Olivia Lawrence had 22 assists, while sophomore hitter Maddie Trusty racked up 12 kills, six digs, three aces and two solo blocks. Senior captain hitter Lyca Steelman served 12 straight serves to give the Rams a commanding 12-0 lead in the second game.
Senior captain Daelynn White added four digs, junior Molly Stineman finished with six digs and junior Hattie Anne Douglas had three. Junior hitter Claire Monte and sophomore hitter Katie ballard each had three kills.
Senior captain Meghan Fuller-Freeman finished the match with three blocks, three kills and two aces. Sophomore Adachi Igbokidi added four blocks.
Bryant (0-1) was 12-18-3 in 2017 with a first-round exit from the former Class 7A state tournament in Fayetteville. Bryant is now a member of Class 6A in sports other than football with the same 16 teams as the 7A conference in football.
Lakeside traveled to Greenbrier (1-0) for another match on Thursday. The Rams are scheduled for matches against Mena (1-0) and El Dorado (0-1) on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, before hosting Lake Hamilton (0-1) on Thursday in a series of matchups against the Wolves in multiple sports next week.
* The junior Rams opened their season with wins on the road on Tuesday against the Sheridan Yellowjackets.
Lakeside won the junior high match 25-20, 25-19.
The Rams were led by front row play from Sarah Porter with eight kills and two blocks. Vivien Mardis had five kills, seven assists and four ace serves. Annalise McAlister had seven ace serves and six assists. The back court was led by Kaitlyn Threadgill with 10 digs and Libby Divers with 11 digs.
Mardis, McAlister and Porter were selected as the night's most valuable players.
The eighth-grade team also won in two sets, 25-18, 25-22.
Threadgill had 11 serves and two aces. Brookland Bourland also brought in seven service points.
Both teams traveled to Greenbrier on Thursday.
Sports on 08/24/2018