On August 25th, at the end of a long day of tournament play at Bentonville, the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs were 6-4 after 10 matches. Now they are 27-5 overall and unbeaten (14-0) in the 5A West after completing their regular season and conference schedules.
Going 7-1-1 over the last two weeks, the GHS girls claimed another conference crown and must be counted among the favorites to win the 5A state title heading into the state tournament, starting this week at Jonesboro High School, another one of the favorites.
Greenwood (West #1) played Little Rock Parkview (Central #4) this past Tuesday afternoon, but results were not available at press time. If the Lady Bulldogs win, as expected, they will advance to play the winner between Paragould (East #2) and Lake Hamilton (South #3) on Wednesday. The semi-finals will be held on Thursday.
Since October 9th the Greenwood girls played their final four 5A West conference matches, going 4-0, and competed in the Grand Slam tournament in Ozark, Missouri, posting a 3-1-1 mark.
Conference
The Lady Bulldogs travelled to Russellville on October 9th, returning home with another 3-0 set victory, 25-22, 25-16, and 25-15. Greenwood won all 42 sets against 14 league foes this season.
A trio of players led the team in kill shots, starting with Zoie Benton’s 13, followed by Abby Cagle and Camryn Presley with 12 kills each. Izzy Davis led the teams in digs with 21.
Anna Johnson led the Lady Bulldogs in assists with 21, while Presley was second with 17. Izzy Davis led the squad with 21 service returns.
Two days later Greenwood hosted the Alma varsity girls, winning 25-12, 25-12, and 25-15. The team was led offensively by Abby Cagle with 12 kills, followed by Presley with eight and Benton with six.
Madison Pugh was on fire from the service line, recording nine aces. Izzy Davis led with eight digs, followed by Benton with five and Johnson with four. Johnson led with 19 assists, followed by Presley with nine, while Davis led with 15 service receptions.
Last week the GHS girls traveled to Beebe on Tuesday for a 25-22, 25-14, 25-10 victory. The front row combined for a total of 52 kill shots, led by Abby Cagle with 15 and Zoie Benton with 14. Camryn Presley added 10 kills.
Izzy Davis led the Lady Bulldogs with 19 digs. Benton had 10, Presley and Johnson eight each, seven for Cagle, and six digs for Josie Chapple.
Camryn Presley had 27 assists, followed by Johnson with 20. Zoie Benton had 16 service returns, while Izzy Davis had 15.
Last Thursday the Greenwood girls hosted their regular and conference season finale against Vilonia, winning in straight sets, 25-12, 25-11, and 25-11. It was also senior night.
Abby Cagle, Kaley Lawson and Julia Brixey are my three seniors this year,” said Head Coach Jennifer Golden. “I'm so proud them and the hard work and leadership they put into this season.”
Cagle led the offense with nine kill shots, followed by Presley and Benton with eight each. Kayley Lawson added six kills. Davis and Benton had two service aces each.
Davis also led the team with 16 digs, while Abby Cagle and Anna Johnson had six each. Johnson led in assists with 18, followed by Presley with 10. Davis had 14 service receptions and Benton nine.
Tournament
On Saturday, October 13th, the GHS girls traveled to Ozark, located near Springfield in Southwest Missouri, and played five tournament matches of two sets each.
Up first was Republic, Missouri, a 25-14, 25-14 winner for Greenwood. Zoie Benton had five kills, while teammates Abby Cagle and Camryn Presley had four each. Josie Chapple had three service aces.
Izzy Davis had nine digs, while Anna Johnson led the team with 10 assists. Davis also had 10 service receptions, while Chapple had seven and Benton six.
Game two was against Calvary Lutheran, a two-set GHS sweep, 25-15 and 25-13. Zoie Benton had nine kills, Abby Cagle eight, and Camryn Presley six. Anna Johnson had five service aces.
Izzy Davis had 16 digs, while Johnson (15) and Presley (9) led the team in assists. Benton led the team in service returns with seven.
Match three was against the host team, Ozark, which won the first set (25-23) before the Lady Bulldogs rallied to win the second set (27-25).
Cagle led the team in kills with eight, followed by Presley and Benton with seven each. Madison Pugh had two service aces, while Izzy Davis led the team with 21 digs.
Anna Johnson had 13 assists, followed by Presley with 10. Zoie Benton led with 11 service returns, followed by Josie Chapple with nine, Davis with eight, and Presley with seven.
Greenwood’s fourth match of the day was against Lafayette High School of Wildwood, Missouri, resulting in the Lady Bulldogs’ first loss in weeks, 15-25, 10-25.
Abby Cagle had five kills, Zoie Benton had eight digs, Camryn Presley had five assists, while Izzy Davis and Josie Chapple had 11 service returns each, followed by Benton with 10.
The final match of the day was against Living Word Christian of O’Fallon, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and it was the only match of the day that went three sets. Greenwood won 25-20, 13-25, 25-17.
Zoie Benton had 11 kills, followed by Abby Cagle with nine and Brooke Jones and Camryn Presley with five kills each. Zoie Benton had 16 assists, followed by Izzy Davis (14) and Presley (11).
Presley also led the team with 20 assists, while Anna Johnson had nine. Izzy Davis had 28 service returns, followed by Benton with 13.
State
The GHS girls, who are the defending 6A state champs, will need three victories to reach the 5A state final on Saturday at Bank of Ozarks Arena in Hot Springs at the Convention Center.
“I feel like my team is playing well as we head into the post-season,” said Coach Golden. “We played in the Ozark (MO) tournament and we had a very good showing.
“My girls responded well to the level of play we faced,” she added. “We’re all excited for this coming week. Tuesday we play Little Rock Parkview in Jonesboro in the first round of the [state] tournament.”
Should the Lady Bulldogs make it to the finals for the third straight year, the title match is slated to for 7 p.m. on Saturday. Greenwood and Jonesboro have played for the state title in each of the past two seasons, and the same thing could have this week.