Southside wasn’t merely content with having already clinched the 6A-Central conference title.

The Mavericks wanted to continue to make a statement heading into next week’s 6A State Tournament, and did so in their home finale Tuesday.

Southside jumped out to an early lead in the opening set against crosstown rival Northside, and the Mavs were able to withstand several Lady Bear charges in the next two sets to post a three-set sweep, 25-12, 25-19, 25-16, at Southside Gym.

With the win, the Mavericks (28-5 overall) finished conference play at 13-1, having won 13 straight matches after opening 6A-Central play with a loss to Conway. They have also currently won 15 straight matches.

“The girls have a new level of focus,” Southside coach Natalie Throneberry said. “We’ve really had some of our better practices of the season so far, they’re coming in a little more focused and a little more driven. The intensity has kind of kicked up a notch, and I think (Tuesday) kind of shows the benefits of how our practices have been going.”

The Mavs, who wrapped up the No. 1 seed from the 6A-Central, will be in the quarterfinals of the 6A state tourney at Cabot for a 5 p.m. match on Wednesday, Oct. 30 against the winner of the opening-round match between Van Buren and Cabot.

Southside, which honored five seniors prior to Tuesday’s match for Senior Night, opened the match with consecutive kills from senior Bailey Vega, junior Hayley Hall and junior Avery Fitzgerald. The Mavs scored the first four points and built a 7-2 lead on a kill from sophomore Toree Tiffee.

“Northside’s a great team, they’ve got some good hitters. ... They’re really hard to try to defend, and it was really nice to see us come out and get some kills early and flip the tide,” Throneberry said.

Fitzgerald later served three aces during a 5-0 run as Southside extended its lead to nine points, 17-8. Then, an ace from senior Kelsey Hamilton gave the Mavs a 20-9 advantage.


Southside built a 10-4 lead in the second set but the Lady Bears (18-12-1, 8-6) gradually crept back. Northside got within four, 14-10, on an ace by senior Emily Maxwell.

But the Mavs gradually pulled away, with Hamilton delivering another ace followed by junior Aleigha Johnson’s kill, giving Southside a 20-13 lead.

The two teams were tied at 10-all in the third set before a block from Southside junior Hannah Hogue started a 3-0 run. Northside got within two points, 18-16, on a kill from junior Sky Masterson, but back-to-back kills from Hogue and Johnson gave the momentum back to Southside.

Southside then finished off the match with an ace from Hall and a kill by Johnson, helping the Mavs continue to get balanced performances from a bevy of players.

“I was very happy to see that,” Throneberry said. “We worked a lot on our out-of-system hitting; we kind of fell off a few games where we weren’t really swinging very well and we were out of system, and I think Toree has done a fantastic job of growing that part of her game. ... I also think Kelsey Hamilton’s done really a good job defensively for us; very proud of her as a senior on Senior Night, showing up and doing her job.”

Fitzgerald finished with 11 kills and six of the team’s 13 aces. Tiffee added eight kills, while Johnson had seven along with a hitting percentage of .700. Vega had six kills and four blocks as well.

Also for the Mavs, Hogue had 32 assists, Hamilton recorded 10 digs and three aces and Hall served three aces as well.


Northside coach Matt Waack singled out senior defensive specialist Taylor Pate for her serve-receive.

“Taylor had a good night; I thought she serve-received really well,” Waack said. “She had eight digs on the night, but the best thing was her serve-receive; she received 19 balls, so she had the bulk of all our serve-receives and she handled it really well.”

Lady Bear seniors Grace Anne Hollenbeck and Lainey Logsdon each had four kills, while senior Nicole Medlin, the team’s leading hitter, was held to three kills.

“Our offense got stifled a little bit, but we served them tough,” Waack said. “We had eight aces, and Taylor had three of those as well.”

Northside, which got the No. 4 seed from the 6A-Central, will face Rogers in the opening round of the state tourney at 1 p.m. next Tuesday in Cabot.
