If it's late October in western Arkansas, the Ozark and Ouachita mountains are ablaze with the colors of autumn, the air is cooler, the daylight hours are growing shorter, and the Greenwood High School Bulldogs are expected to make another deep run into the Class 5A football playoffs, and maybe even win their fourth state championship in the last five years. As someone wise once said, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
But the state football title won't be decided until the first weekend in December - six weeks from now. In the meantime, another GHS athletic team is preparing to make a run of their own. The Lady Bulldogs volleyball squad begins play in the Class 5A state tournament on Tuesday, October 27th, at Siloam Springs. If all goes well, the Lady 'Dogs will play single matches on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, before traveling across the state to Jonesboro on Saturday for another crack at the state crown that has eluded them for the past three years. The title match will be played at the Convocation Center on the campus of Arkansas State University.
Greenwood head coach Jennifer Golden and her players are well aware of the obstacles that stand in their path to a state championship. There is first round opponent Beebe, the third seed from the 5A East, or probable second round foe Nettleton, the top seed from the East. If the Lady Bulldogs reach the semi-finals on Thursday, as they normally do, they will face any one of four quality teams including Little Rock Christian, the top seed from the Southwest, or possibly even Alma from the 5A West. The Airdalettes finished third this season in conference play, right behind second place Greenwood. The GHS girls finished 12-2 in league play and 23-8 overall.
But assuming that all goes as planned, and the Lady Bulldogs reach the finals on Saturday, the greatest obstacle of all still awaits. And no, it's not the interminable five-hour bus ride across the state to Jonesboro. The biggest hurdle for Coach Golden and her players is one they are intimately familiar with, and one from which they cannot hide nor likely avoid - the Lady Panthers of Siloam Springs. Winners of the 5A West in 2009, the Siloam girls are again favored to repeat as state champs for the sixth consecutive year, especially with them hosting the state tournament and playing the first three rounds on their home court. The Lady Panthers are 32-3 overall and are ranked number one among all girls teams in the state, regardless of classification.
But if any team can beat the Lady Panthers, it is Greenwood. For proof, one only has to go back to the 2008 season. "We beat them three different times," said Coach Golden, "twice in conference and once in the tournament last year. So we can say that we have competed with them, and we have beaten them, but ultimately it's that last game," she added.
"I especially feel like last year and this year, we have just as much talent as they do. I feel like it's just getting that monkey off our back and getting it done. But they are very well coached, and they're a great team. One of their seniors has signed with the University of Texas, and she's actually going to go play for them in December when she graduates. They have all that talent and skill. It's frustrating," admitted the coach, "but I wouldn't want it any other way. If we're going to beat somebody, I want to beat them with the full power that they have."
Last Tuesday the Lady Bulldogs gave Siloam Springs a foretaste of what might await them in the state finals, when the two squads squared off in conference play at Greenwood's H.B. Stewart Arena. After dropping the first two games (25-18, 25-22) to the Lady Panthers, the GHS girls rallied to win the next two (28-26, 25-22), forcing a decisive fifth game. But the visitors escaped with an 18-16 advantage for the win, earning the 5A West title outright. Two days later, the Lady Bulldogs closed out the regular season with a road victory over Morrilton.
Asked to reflect back on her efforts to build a successful program at Greenwood, Golden offered these comments: "I came in here in 2001 and I lucked into a team that was pretty good. They made it to the semi-finals, and that was the first time any Greenwood team had ever been to the semis in volleyball. In my ninth year, we've made it to the state tournament seven of nine times. We've never done worse than the semis, and we've been in the championship game the last three years in a row. I [take] a lot of pride in [that]. I came into the program as a greenhorn, and volleyball was my passion. It still is and it always was. I played in high school in Texas, and got a scholarship and played at Henderson State (Arkadelphia), and graduated from Henderson with my P.E. and Special Ed degrees, and ended up here."
Regarding the reasons for her success at Greenwood, the coach was more than happy to share the credit with someone very close to her, husband and fellow coach Tim Golden. "I'd like to say it's my work ethic, because of the passion. But I really don't think I would be where I am, especially in the last seven years, if it hadn't been for my junior high program coming along, and the credit goes to Tim, no doubt. Because before he got the job, the seventh grade was playing [only] two games, and there wasn't anybody who really cared about it until he stepped in. We would have 20 to 25 [girls] to try out, but this year in seventh grade we had 57. In seventh through twelfth grade, we probably have a hundred-plus kids playing volleyball, and that's huge." Tim Golden is the head junior high coach and sits on the bench with the team during varsity matches, while Coach Kimberly Lowe ably assists Jennifer on the senior high level. Tim and Jennifer also have another shared passion in life beyond volleyball - their five-year-old daughter Riley.
The coach also reflected upon her goals after arriving in Greenwood in 2001. "It was just to make this a known sport in this area," she said, "because in Arkansas [volleyball] wasn't a very important sport and didn't have much of an impact on the students. But it's really exciting to see how far it's come along, especially up north as opposed to down south."
Still, volleyball matches don't often attract large crowds, admitted the coach. It's usually mostly friends and family members of players and a few students. But there are exceptions, she said. "When we publicize that we have a big match, and we want people to come out, we usually have a pretty good turnout. This last match against Siloam, we had a really great crowd. We had a lot of students. We did some promos where high school students got in free, and that helped. But if we can just get more people out to see what the sport looks like - what we do, and how it's played, and how exciting it can be - I think we'd probably have a better following."
Golden also addressed some of the things she does to encourage interest and participation in volleyball in grades 7-12. "We go to camps," she said, "and the last five years I've brought in a [college] coach. He comes in and helps us get started every year at the beginning of the season, and he does a real good job with that."
The volleyball staff also welcomes athletes from other sports to take a second look at volleyball. "In seventh and eighth grade we encourage all of them to play as much as possible. And if you have a kid who is good in all sports, we believe those kids should play as much a possible, even in high school. Usually by the time they are ninth graders they settle down into one or two sports. I do have one that is playing four [sports] right now - volleyball, basketball, track, and softball. I have several that are volleyball [and] softball players, and a lot of soccer players."
Perhaps the biggest thing the GHS volleyball program has going for it right now is a winning tradition, said Golden. "It makes a difference when we get these seventh, eighth, and ninth graders in and we can say, "Hey, look what we've done. You're a part of that and you're a part of the future, and this is what you have to look forward to, and this is what you can do." So it's exciting to see their faces when you mention that, and then when they start looking at real volleyball and coming to some of our high school games."
Asked about some of her top players, the coach singled out seven girls by name. "Obviously, I've got to start with my senior Jill Barrett. She's started for me since she was a ninth grader. She's a tremendous player - a tremendous athlete. Not a lot of people that I've seen in my entire life are comparable to the skill and athleticism that she has. She just really brings a lot to the team. She's the one that we go to." Golden then added that Barrett is already headed for the next level of competition in college. "She is actually going to play softball. She's verbally committed to play at Tulsa. She's just as good at softball, if not better, and that's saying a lot.
"My next senior [is] Natelie Nelms. She's a setter. She transferred here as a sophomore from Fort Smith Ramsey, and originally I started her outside. But last year we were hurting for a setter, and she wanted to step up into that position, and she has really done a good job. She's improved and gotten better, and I couldn't have asked for more heart and [a better] work ethic out of her.
"Next is Keeley Treece. She's a middle blocker. She's a senior and she's been playing since seventh grade. I can't say enough about [her and] these kids and how much they go out and try to get better. They all go out and play JO [Junior Olympic volleyball]. They all want to be good." Golden explained that the nearest JO team is currently in Fort Smith, but that is about to change. "Some local people are actually starting a club in Greenwood this year, which is really exciting, because it's going to be all Greenwood kids. And that's something I'm definitely going to advocate for, because these are all my kids playing together, trying to get better, and that's exciting."
Haley Townsend was next on the coach's mind. "She's played for me since seventh grade and played JO. She is my libero - she's strictly a back row player only. She is a tremendous athlete, and has really come along this year as a junior. She's really stepped into that position and taken it over. It's her's, and she owns defense and she owns that position right now. She's being recruited by Air Force, Louisiana Tech, Arkansas Tech, and maybe UAFS. I can't say enough about all of them. Sage Risley is a sophomore that's come in this season. Vanessa Uhrhahn is a tremendous athlete who didn't start playing volleyball until ninth grade, and now she's starting for me as a junior. Of course, they all contribute."
Asked about her team's best attributes heading into the state tournament, Coach Golden was quick to respond with one word - experience. "We've been in this situation three times now," she said, "and I think that [experience] has a lot to do with it. We have athletes that are just as good as Siloam. We have skills that are just as good as Siloam. Our skill and our talent are attributes that are going to contribute to [reaching] that final."
Regarding the journey to Jonesboro, Golden admitted that she didn't have a lot of information about potential opponents, but exuded confidence in her team's abilities instead. "I haven't heard a whole lot about [Beebe], but from what I've been told we're not supposed to have a whole lot of trouble. But we're the type of team that takes one game at a time. After that is probably Nettleton. They are number one out of the East, [and] I've heard they're really good. I haven't seen them play, but everybody says they are good. So I think on the road to that final game, Nettleton will be our biggest competition."
Tuesday's match against Beebe begins at 6 p.m. Assuming the Lady Bulldogs move on, Wednesday's quarterfinal match will also start at 6 p.m. against the winner of the Nettleton - Hot Springs Lakeside match. If Greenwood reaches the semifinals, as expected, that match is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Thursday. The Dog Pound will post results as they become available.