Losing the first set by four points, but evening the Conway Lady Wampus Cats with a 3-point win in the second set, the Benton Lady Panthers would fall 25-19, 25-19 the last two games for the 3-1 loss to a solid Conway squad, a top 10 team in the state last year, at Benton Arena.
It was all about overcoming big deficits for the Lady Panthers (0-2) on Thursday. Down 20-11 in the first set, Benton junior Rylea Brimhall picked up a kill assisted by senior Summer Jones to start a 4-0 run to get within five. Junior Caitlin Murdock and Brimhall had consecutive kills before a Conway point made it 22-17, but Kaylee “Birdie” Croushore’s kills started a 3-0 run which included a block for a point from junior Cassidy Brady and an ace from junior Madi Mehlin for the 22-20 deficit.
But, Benton couldn’t get over the hump and would fall by three as Conway’s Aly Brinkley ended the game on two straight kills.
“Against good teams, you can’t dig holes,” Benton Coach Brandy Chumley said. “We started a couple games that way. Conway is a very good team. I thought we were really strong at the net and our passes were better.
“I thought we played well; a lot better than against Cabot. Even though we didn’t win, I’ll take that.”