The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs ended their 2024 volleyball campaign last week in the 5A state tournament in nearby Van Buren, dropping their opening round match against highly ranked Valley View. They ended their regular season by splitting matches with Farmington and Harrison to post an 8-6 conference record, good enough to claim the 5A West’s #4 seed to the state tournament, pitting them against the #1 seeded Lady Blazers last Tuesday, October 29th.
Farmington
On October 22nd the GHS girls traveled north to Farmington to take on the Lady Cardinals, with the visitors dropping a very competitive three-set match, 20-25, 24-26, and 24-26. Greenwood had seven players with at least two kills each for a total of 30 in the match. Anna Grace Dedmon led with seven slams while Aspen Payton had six kills. Brianna Wilson and freshman Rylee Broman-McAdams had five slams each. Aspen Payton and Lexi Wieser had three service aces each.
On defense, Anna Grace Dedmon had two blocks while Lexi Wieser led with 16 digs followed by Aspen Payton with 10. Rylee Daniel led the Lady Bulldogs with 14 assists while teammate Loren Eckart had 12. Lexi Wieser paced Greenwood with 26 service receptions followed by Aspen Payton with 21.
Harrison
After dropping consecutive matches to eventual state champion Shiloh Christian and Farmington by identical 3-0 scores, the Greenwood ladies rebounded at home two days later against the Lady Goblins, winning in four sets, 25-17, 25-23, 15-25, and 25-20. The home victory concluded their conference schedule with an 8-6 mark to finish fourth behind Shiloh (14-0), Farmington (12-2), and Van Buren (10-4).
The hometown ladies won the battle of the net with 49 kill shots to 34 for the visitors. Two Lady Bulldogs hit double figures in slams. Anna Grace Dedmon led with 15 followed by Brianna Wilson with 12. Ella Dickinson had nine and Rylee Broman-McAdams had seven. Lily Johnson added five kills. Alyssa Lovell had three service aces while Loren Eckart had two.
Defensively, Greenwood had just two blocks, but Lexi Wieser led the team with 29 digs, followed by Rylee Daniel, Alyssa Lovell, and Loren Eckart had 12 digs each. Loren Eckart led her teammates with 24 assists while Rylee Daniel had 17. Lexi Wieser had 12 service receptions while Alyssa Lovell had six and Anna Grace Dedmon had five.
Valley View
The Lady Blazers entered the state tournament at Van Buren as the top seed from the 5A East while the Lady Bulldogs were in the unusual position of being the fourth seed from the West after dominating the league in recent years. The two teams clashed the Tuesday before Halloween with Greenwood as the underdog and the strength of both squads was reflected in the final scores of the three sets. Valley View won 25-16, 25-13, and 25-19 to end the Lady Bulldogs’ season.
The GHS girls were very active at the net with 42 kill shots led by promising freshman Rylee Broman-McAdams with 16 slams. Ella Dickinson, Brianna Wilson, and Loren Eckart had six kills each with Anna Grace Dedmon and Lily Johnson getting four slams each. Loren Eckart had the only service ace for the Lady Bulldogs.
Lily Johnson and Brianna Wilson had one block each while the GHS ladies combined for 69 digs on defense. Lexi Wieser had 26 digs to lead the way while Loren Eckart had 10. Aspen Payton had eight digs, Rylee Daniel had seven, Anna Grace Dedmon and Ella Dickinson had five digs each, and Alyssa Lovell had four. Rylee Daniel had 10 assists to lead her teammates while Loren Eckart had five. Three players reached double digits in service returns, Lexi Wieser with 19, Aspen Payton with 15, and Alyssa Lovell with 12. Lily Johnson also had nine returns.
Valley View went on to win their second-round match over Hot Springs Lakeside, 3-2, before falling to Shiloh Christian (3-0) in the semi-finals. The Lady Saints concluded their season by defeating Greenbrier in the state finals, 3-0, to claim the state title. The Lady Bulldogs struggled this season from the start with Head Coach Jennifer Golden dealing with a back problem that led to surgery, sidelining her for a few matches at the beginning of the schedule. Player injuries were also a concern during the season plus a revamped conference schedule featuring a very strong lineup including Shiloh, Farmington, and Van Buren, all of which reached the state quarterfinals or beyond.
Coach Golden will lose at least half-a-dozen starting seniors to graduation and will have to rebuild her squad for next season starting with a handful of returning players with experience like Anna Grace Dedmon, Alyssa Lovell, Lily Johnson, and talented freshmen Rylee Broman-McAdams, who was promoted to the varsity team from the ninth-grade squad that won a championship this year. But one thing is for sure. Coach Golden will have her Lady Bulldogs back in the thick of the race for both a conference and state championship very soon. Greenwood has won three state titles and numerous league crowns under her leadership over the past two decades. She is the longest serving head coach at Greenwood High School and one of the most successful during that time. We congratulate her and her staff and players for their grit, determination, and success during a difficult season.