By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The Beebe Lady Badgers capitalized on their streaks of momentum, and persevered when momentum belonged to North Pulaski in a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Lady Falcons in 5A Southeast Conference play at Badger Sports Arena on Tuesday.
North Pulaski (2-2, 1-2) took Games 1 and 4 handily at 25-15 each game, but the Lady Badgers (2-4, 1-1) fought for their lives to win what turned out to be the pivotal set in the second game, 28-26. They also won Game 3 25-17 before senior hitter Stephanie Pollnow led the way to a 15-11 victory in the final game.
“We had a long talk yesterday,” Beebe coach Ashley Camp said. “Our communication fails if we get behind, but it seems to get better when we’re winning. They pulled through. We’ve just been working on finishing.”
The Lady Badgers found finishing difficult at the end of the second game when North Pulaski ralliedfrom Beebe’s game point at 24-20 to tie and eventually have game point at 25-24. Pollnow tied the game at 25 with a kill, and Lesslie Colbert gave game point back to Beebe with a kill that made it 27-26 before North Pulaski hit it out on the final point.
“I told my girls that I’m proud of their heart, their character, competitiveness, spirit, attitude – it’s all there,” North Pulaski coach Ben Belton said. “Little mistakes, that’s the difference. If you make the mistakes we made, we deserve to lose.”
The Lady Falcons looked like the dominant team early on when they took an easy victory in the first game. Madison Richey was the only Lady Badger making plays at the net while a host of Lady Falcons got in on the action.
Hitter Stevie Hughes and Meagan Chargaulaf were strong at the service line with a pair of aces each, while Kelsey Whitmore had two kills at the front.
Richey and senior Emily Epperson managed to keep the Lady Badgers close until North Pulaski won the last seven points, punctuated with a big kill up the middle by Hughes on game point.
“It’s momentum. This whole game is momentum,” Belton said. “I really thought we had the momentum before we started that last set, but they made a good run. Their kids fought – their kids deserve to win.”
Game 3 was the only time things appeared easy for Beebe. The Lady Falcons rushed out to a 7-2 lead before communication fell apart, and that’s when Richey and Pollnow got to work for the Lady Badgers. Pollnow gave the lead to Beebe for the first time in the set with a kill that made it 12-11. Brittany Mitchel extended the advantage with her second kill of the match to make it 15-12, and a block by Richey stretched the gap to 17-12.
Pollnow put the Lady Badgers at game point with a kill before Richey ended it on the next point.
Pollnow was on a mission in the early stages of the final game with a block followed by two quick kills to help Beebe out to a 3-0 lead. Whitmore and Kelsey Locklin battled back for North Pulaski, but Pollnow got her third kill of the set to make it 5-1.
Colbert extended the Lady Badgers’ advantage to 8-2 with a kill assisted by junior setter Morgan Henry before Whitmore and Hughes led the comeback charge for North Pulaski.
“I was very nervous,” Camp said. “They kept me on my toes for sure. Every point was nail biting. That’s what we’ve been working on in practice, just trying to finish.”
Hughes came alive for North Pulaski with two kills and a block while Whitmore closed the gap further with two aces.
Colbert gave the Lady Badgers match point at 14-8 with a kill, but two kills for Shelby Floyd pulled North Pulaski to within 14-11. But Richey finally put an end to the two-and-a-half hour match with a kill from the left side to clinch it for Beebe.
Pollnow led the Lady Badgers with 10 kills along with a block and an ace. Richie had seven kills, one block and one ace, while Colbert had six kills and an ace. Sophomore libero Sydney Watson had four aces.
For North Pulaski, Whitmore led the way with 11 kills and three aces. Floyd added nine kills and four aces while Hughes finished with six kills, three aces and two blocks. Locklin had six kills and a block.
