The Benton Lady Tigers made school history with a three sets to none victory over No. 18!Zachary in the first round of the Division I playoffs Wednesday at Benton.
It’s the first playoff win since the program started in 2018.
The No. 15 seed Lady Tigers (25-7) will travel to New Orleans to face No. 2 Mt. Carmel in the second round. The Lady Cubs (36-5) defeated No. 31 Prairieville 3-0 (25-7, 25-18, 25-6) in the first round.
In another first-round match, No. 20 Parkway fell to No. 14 St. Amant 3-0 on the road. It was the first playoff match in school history.
The Lady Panthers finished an outstanding season 19-9. St. Amant improved to 28-13.
Benton won the first two sets against Zachary 25-16 and 25-14.
The Lady Tigers made a monumental comeback in the third. Trailing 24-15, they saved nine set points with clutch serving by Emma Holmes.
“Emma did a wonderful job on being consistent with her serves and sending them right where she needed to in order to put us back in that third set,” Benton Head Coach Barbara Curry said.
Benton saved one more set point before winning 30-28. Brynnan Huffman’s spike off a set by Lia Vergis at 28-28 set up match point.
Senior Addy Darter put her serve in play and
the match ended on an error, setting off a big celebration by players and fans.
Madison Smith played a big role in the comeback with spikes and soft drop shots just over the net.
Smith and Benton’s front line dominated throughout the match. But all the Lady Tigers played a part in the victory.
Devyn Moore got the comeback started with a kill.
At St. Amant, Parkway lost the first two sets 25-16 and 25-15. The Lady Panthers made it close in the third before falling 25-21.