Bentonville coach Michelle Smith never doubted Savannah Riney.

Riney never doubted her teammates.

“We knew in tight moments all year, Savannah was our go-to girl,” Smith said. “I just looked at her and said, ‘Hey, they’re (setters) going to find you no matter where they are.’

“She produced today.”

Riney finished with 21 kills and was named the Most Valuable Player after the Lady Tigers rallied Saturday to beat the Mavericks, 16-25, 25-14, 25-11, 25-18, in the 6A finals at BankOZK Arena in Hot Springs.

“Any time you’re a game down in the state championship, you get a little worried and you think you might need to mix it up,” Smith said. “That’s when I sat back and thought, ‘Hey, it’s worked this long.’

“I’m not going to make magic by switching up lineups.”

The Mavericks (31-6) took the opener, 25-16, without ever falling behind.

But Bentonville never trailed in the second set, trailed only briefly (2-1) in third, and refused to let Southside regain any momentum the rest of the way.


“I really think Bentonville played outstanding,” Southside coach Natalie Throneberry said. “We kind of started second-guessing ourselves for a minute.

“When our hitting fell off a little bit, our defense followed.”

Smith felt like the Lady Tigers were too charged up in the opener.

“The first game was nerves,” she said. “They’re playing in a gym they’ve never played in before, and when I brought them around for the second game I said, ‘Hey, it’s just another game.’

I’ve had groups that were strictly business, I’ve had groups that played off emotion, and I’ve had groups that just needed to relax.”

“The first set we were just getting our nerves out,” Riney said. “We’ve never played anywhere this big. I think we were just sort of psyched ourselves out. But we trusted each other and we were good after that.”

Southside junior Aleigha Johnson finished with four of her six blocks in the opening set.


But Riney seemed to be everywhere the Mavericks weren’t in the second set. After helping the Tigers build a quick 5-1 lead, the Mavericks’ rallied to within 13-8 on kills by Toree Tiffee and Bailey Vega.

But Riney responded with back-to-back kills, and before Southside knew what hit them, the deficit had swelled to 18-9.

The Mavericks closed to within 19-14 on one of Johnson’s six kills, but any hope of carrying over some late momentum in the second set went by the wayside as the Tigers closed out the game, 25-14.

The Mavericks led once (2-1 on Avery Fitzgerald’s ace) in the third game before Bentonville quickly pulled ahead by five (10-5).

Southside just didn’t have an answer.

“Losses teach you a lot about yourself,” Throneberry said. “For these kids to make it back to the finals two years in a row, I’m not going to hang my head for a second. I’ve got the utmost respect for Michelle Smith and what she’s done for that team.

“It’s weird. I’ve been in coaching for 10 years and I’m looking up to coaches I’ve looked up to my whole career; how they handle motherhood; how they balance the team. Michelle’s one of the best.”

Fitzgerald led the Mavs with 13 kills and three aces. Tiffee had eight kills, and Vega had six.

Hannah Hogue had 31 assists and five blocks.
