By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
The look on Kim Weaver’s face told a million stories of past volleyball heartache — the type that lingers in the minds of coaches and players.
Tuesday night, Alma won the first two sets (as they’ve done many times) before falling behind in the third game. Down 19-18, the Lady Airedales soon found themselves down 22-18.
Then, as unbeaten Pottsville was gaining more confidence with each point, Alma turned a 23-19 deficit into a stunning 25-23 victory — and a sweep of the Lady Apaches.
“We’ve been telling them all along, if they’ll just stay the course, our time will come,” Weaver said. “Once we get a moment, and they taste it, it’s going to happen more and more. This is the moment that we needed.”
Seniors Julia Nutt (39 assists) and Miranda Gibson (eight kills) were steady as usual. And underclassmen Breella Hughes, Maggie Brogran, and Chloe Gregory were clutch.
And then there was junior defensive specialist Mabrey Birchfield who was relentless when it came to keeping the ball from hitting the ground. Birchfield had 13 digs in the Lady Airedales’ victory. Fellow junior Ashtyn Carmack had 10 digs.
“She’s a grinder,” Weaver said. “She’s in the gym wanting to get better every day — before practice, after practice, and on the weekend. What you see on the court is only possible because of everything she’s doing off the court.”
“She’s such a big asset to our team,” Nutt said. “It means so much having this (win) at home … because this is the first win at home since (2021). This means so much to us and the team. Defensively, we played a really good game. Mabrey did good; Ashtyn did good, and Miranda and I did a pretty good job of covering the (out-of-bounds) line. It was an all-around good game.”
Hughes led the way with nine kills and seven aces. Brogan continued her great start with seven kills and four aces. Gregory added seven kills.
Alma JH sweeps
The Alma Lady Airedales’ junior high grinded out a 2-0 win (25-18, 25-22) over Pottsville Tuesday in Charles B. Dyer Arena to run their season record to 4-0.
Emberly Kimes and Jaslyn Boone had four kills apiece for the winners. Kimes also had three digs and assisted on a pair of blocks. Boone finished with six digs and one ace.
Anna Swarnes finished with eight digs, three aces and three kills. Bailee Oliver added five digs and two aces. Isabella Peters, and Matilyn Dunn added six and five digs, respectively.
Peyton Morris had two kills, two digs, and assisted on two blocks. Jaeda Cahoon had three aces and two digs.
Eighth grade volleyball wins
Chloe Kovalck had five assists and two digs to help the balanced Lady Airedales’ eighth-grade team to a 25-14, 25-12 win over Pottsville Tuesday.
Mallory Taylor and Jaeli Morris had three aces apiece. Taylor had two digs and Morris contributed a kill. Olivia Whipple, Madelyn House, Brylee Dean, and Ellyse Wright each had one kill.
Olivia Hughes assisted on a block; Faylyn Holt, Kadee Wise, and Haven Baxter each had an ace. Raelynn Avey had a dig.
Alma JV falls
The Alma junior varsity football team dropped a decision to Siloam Springs on Monday.
Logan English led Alma with 38 yards rushing on three attempts. Jacob Dollard and Michael Taylor added 20 and 16 yards, respectively.
Taylor was also 6-for-15 for 122 yards through the air. John Crump added 21 yards rushing and finished 1-for-5 through the air for five yards.
Haughton, Wadkins are victorious
Alma junior tennis standouts Lacey Haughton and Kensington Wadkins recorded a 6-3, 6-4 win over Russellville in doubles play Tuesday.
The Alma tennis team will host Siloam Springs on Thursday.