Lady Cats take #1 seed into State Tournament

By Shawn Lee
UCA sportswriting

The Conway Lady Cats will enter their fourth consecutive Class 7A State Volleyball Tournament as the No. 1 seed from the 7A-Central.

The tournament will begin Tuesday, Oct. 27 at Van Buren with the opening ceremonies at 11:30 a.m.

The Conway Lady Cats (23-4), who swept through the Central 14-0, have a bye for the first round and are set to play on Wednesday at 2 p.m. against the winner of the first-round match between Fort Smith Southside, No. 4 from the West, and Russellville, fifth from the Central. The final match for the championship will be held at Arkansas State University's Convocation Center in Jonesboro on Saturday, Oct. 31.

Conway, which also had a bye last year, was eliminated in the second round by Rogers, which ended up getting to the championship match but losing to Bentonville.

"I have mixed feelings about having a bye week," Conway coach Laura Crow said. "It's nice to have it off, but sometimes it's also nice to get things going early."

Should Southside win its first-round match, Conway's first match would be especially interesting.

"We've taken three losses against Fort Smith Southside this year and we'd like to get some revenge," Crow said.

Conway has a mature, experienced team with seniors such as Jasmyn Wilkins, Mary Dunlap, Payton Hart and Breezy Murphy. The Lady Cats know what to expect from the state tournament.

"One of our starters is out, so we'll have to figure out how to cover that," Crow said. "We may also try out some different rotations."