The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs volleyball team opened its season with a rush over the past two weeks, playing a total of 10 matches, including a second-place finish in the Early Bird tournament at Bentonville last week.
Head Coach Jennifer Golden and her players opened their season on August 26th with a home non-conference match against Class 7A Fayetteville, dropping a five-setter to the Lady Purple Dogs.
The match was hotly contested and every set was close. The visitors won the first two sets, 27-25 and 25-23, before Greenwood rallied to take sets three and four, 28-26 and 25-23.
The Lady Bulldogs continued their momentum into the decisive fifth set, leading 11-8 at one point. But Fayetteville stormed back to win the final eight points of the set for the 15-11 victory to take the match.
After the contest, Coach Golden talked about her team’s performance and the need for more consistency. “That’s something we’ve been working on – making runs and stopping runs,” she said.
“We didn’t do really well in stopping runs [against Fayetteville]. We can look back and they would make four or five or six-point runs in just about every set against us, [plus] some unforced errors on our part, and that will cost you,” she added.
Despite the loss, Golden was pleased with her team’s overall effort, noting the closeness of each set and the intensity of her players.
“Look at the scores,” she said. “It doesn’t get [any] closer than that.” “So coming out of the gate with a match like that, I couldn’t ask for more. We were ready. We were tired of practicing. I’m proud of them.”
Greenwood senior outside hitter Camryn Presley finished the match with a remarkable triple-double, recording 22 kills with 19 assists and 10 digs.
Also for the Lady Bulldogs, junior hitter Larkin Luke added 10 kills, while senior Brooke Jones finished with nine. Junior setter Anna Johnson finished with 30 assists and had three service aces. Junior Madison Pugh had 16 digs, as did senior Izzy Davis.
Springdale Har-Ber
Just one night later, on August 27th, the GHS girls went on the road and bounced back, posting a four-set win at Springdale Har-Ber, 25-10, 22-25, 25-20, and 26-24.
In the critical third set, Greenwood built a 24-19 lead on a kill from junior Zoie Dean, who followed up with a blocked shot for set point.
Greenwood trailed 24-23 in the fourth set before Camryn Presley’s kill shot evened the score. Another block from Dean gave the Lady Bulldogs a one-point lead, then Presley iced the victory with another spike.
Presley finished with 13 kills, while fellow senior Brooke Jones had 11 kills and two blocks. Junior Hannah Watkins had six blocks, Dean had two kills and two blocks, and junior Jocelyn Sewell served two aces.
Ft. Smith Northside
Continuing their practice of facing some of the top teams in the state in non-conference play, the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Fort Smith Northside on August 29th. After winning the opening set 25-23, the Greenwood girls found themselves trailing 14-3 in the second set.
But the Lady Bulldogs showed great fortitude by fighting back to tie the score and eventually go in front, claiming the second set, 25-20, scoring 22 of the final 28 points in the set.
Down by 11 points, Greenwood made its comeback starting with a run of nine consecutive points. The Lady Bulldogs then tied the score at 15-all.
The Lady Bulldogs went on to earn the three-set sweep over the Lady Bears, winning the third set, 25-15, at Kaundart-Grizzly Fieldhouse.
“We preach about adversity a lot,” said Coach Golden after the match, “and those girls really stepped up. It was great to see. Momentum is everything in this sport, and to make that huge of a swing in the game kind of steamrolled us to the end,” added Golden.
In the third set Greenwood led 13-11 when junior Larkin Luke blocked a shot at the net for a point, then went to the back row and served an ace to start a 7-2 GHS run. Camryn Presley then had back-to-back kills, followed by an ace from Jocelyn Sewell to cap off the scoring run.
Greenwood trailed by a point, 19-18, in the opening set before scoring five of the next six points to stay in front. Dean also ended the first set with a kill.
For the match, Presley had 13 kills, two blocks, eight digs, nine assists, and three aces. She was one dig away from her second triple-double in eight days.
Also for Greenwood, Watkins and Brooke Jones had six kills each, Luke had four kills and four aces, Anna Johnson recorded 19 assists, and Izzy Davis turned in 19 digs.
Ft. Smith Southside
On September 3rd the Lady Bulldogs returned to the River City to face the Southside Lady Mavericks, but the results weren’t what they had hoped for, losing in straight sets, 25-15, 25-17, and 25-22.
Brooke Jones led the team in kills with eight. Caylee Ciesla added four kills with Presley and Watkins getting three each. Presley also had three service aces and seven digs to lead the team. Madison Pugh and Izzy Davis both had six digs in the contest. Anna Johnson had nine assists.
Coach Golden admitted that her team failed to execute and seemed to lack intensity. “You can’t come out flat like we did and expect to play hard and make a comeback,” she said.
“We couldn’t find any chemistry or mojo. Nothing fell our way and we just couldn’t overcome it,” she added. “We hoped to be a whole lot more competitive. You don’t mind a loss when you’re competitive. But it’s early. There’s no hanging your head. You just get back in the gym and go to work.”
Early Bird tourney
The Lady Bulldogs finished as runners-up in the Bentonville Early Bird tournament last weekend, losing to Springdale Har-Ber in the finals. Greenwood had beaten Har-Ber in four sets just 11 days earlier.
Last Saturday the GHS girls beat Conway and Bentonville West in pool play before losing to Willard, Missouri. They then beat Fort Smith Southside and Blue Springs South, Missouri, in the gold bracket before facing Har-Ber in the finals.
Against Conway the Lady Bulldogs won comfortably, 25-18 and 25-19, with Hannah Watkins and Caylee Ciesla leading the way offensively with six and five kills, respectively. Watkins also had nine digs while Presley added a dozen assists.
The Greenwood win over Bentonville-West was even easier, 25-12 and 25-13. Larkin Luke had six kills while Jocelyn Sewell added three service aces. Watkins added six digs and Presley had five. Johnson led the team in assists with 12.
Greenwood’s first competitive match of the day was against Willard, a three-set loss. The Lady Bulldogs fell 25-23 in the opening set, but rallied to win the second set, 27-25, before losing in the third set, 15-12.
Presley led the way at the net with 10 kills, followed by Jones with seven, while Luke and Watkins had six kills each. Luke also had four blocks while Izzy Davis led her teammates with 21 digs. Johnson had 12 assists.
Up next for the GHS girls were the Southside Lady Mavericks, giving Greenwood a chance to avenge its earlier loss to their Sebastian County rivals, and the Lady Bulldogs didn’t miss the opportunity.
After dropping a close first set, 25-23, Greenwood captured the second set handily, 25-15, before winning the decisive third set, 15-12. Presley and Jones both had eight kills in the match.
Madison Pugh added three service aces, Luke had eight blocks, while Josie Chappell and Izzy Davis both had 14 digs. Johnson and Presley both had 12 assists in the match.
Greenwood then defeated Blue Springs in two sets, 25-16 and 25-22, to qualify for the finals. Jones had five kills to lead the team, with Presley and Watkins adding four each.
Watkins also had five blocks at the net to lead Greenwood, while Davis and Presley had nine and seven digs, respectively. Presley also had eight assists while Johnson had six.
In the finals Greenwood faced Springdale Har-Ber for the second time in less than two weeks. The Lady Bulldogs won their first meeting in four sets, but lost the shortened three-set tournament championship match.
Greenwood dropped the opening set, 18-25, won the second, 25-23, then fell in the third set, 18-20.
The Lady Bulldogs got a lot of help on the front row with several players contributing kills, led by Presley and Luke with eight each. Ciesla and Jones had six kills each, while Watkins and Allison Rose had four apiece.
Izzy Davis led the team with 28 digs, followed by Pugh with 12, Presley with 11, and Chapple with 10. Presley also had 14 assists with 13 credited to Johnson.
Up Next
The Lady Bulldogs hosted Greenbrier on Tuesday for their conference opener, but results were not available at press time. They will also host Little Rock Christian on Thursday at 5 p.m. before traveling to Siloam Springs next Tuesday and Russellville next Thursday. All are conference contests.