Before an emotional Bentonville crowd on Sept. 6, the Har-Ber Lady Wildcats (3-3, 0-3) fell to a Lady Tiger (11-1, 2-0) team who had plenty of reasons to play hard and well.  In their first match since the passing of senior classmate Sara Symons just five days prior, Bentonville wore armbands with the letters ‘SS’ on them reconizing the love lost.  Nothing could stop the Lady Tigers from winning on this night, as Har-Ber lost in straight sets 25-14, 25-12, 25-19.

“It was tough [playing at Bentonville after this] because we knew exactly how they felt, and were in the same position last year after losing Micayla,” said senior Kelli Toomer.

After losing nine straight unanswered points, in each of the three sets played, it was all but over for the Lady Wildcats.

“We didn’t play our best, and were not tough enough mentally,” said Toomer. “We let our little errors get us down and we just didn’t come back from them.”

Two nights later, Har-Ber hosted another 7A-West team that’s atop the conference; Fayetteville (6-0, 3-0).  Trying to put a measly 45 point night behind them, Har-Ber turned up just five more points on this night (Sept. 8).

Senior Jamie Perry led the Lady Wildcats with eight kills, while senior Jordan Foley added six digs.

“We didn’t start out as strong as we should have,” said Toomer. “We picked it up later on, but it wasn’t soon enough.”

Fayetteville won the first two sets rather handedly 25-17, 25-13, but found themselves in a dog fight late in the third.  It was back and forth until the last stretch by the Lady Bulldogs, that pulled them through for the victory; 25-20.