The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs got some much-needed retribution this past Thursday evening with a four-set home victory over the Lady Cyclones of Russellville in 5A West conference volleyball action. In the league opener earlier this month, the girls from Pope County handed Greenwood a straight set road loss to take the early conference lead.
Since then, the GHS ladies have been unbeatable against league foes, knocking off Van Buren, Harrison, Siloam Springs, Mountain Home, Alma, and Greenbrier in succession. All but one of those matches were in straight sets (3-0) before their win over Russellville, giving them a share of the conference lead at 7-1 after Russellville (6-2) lost to Harrison (7-1) a week earlier. Tied with the Lady Goblins for first place, Greenwood holds the tiebreaker at the moment based on their win over Harrison earlier this month.
Head Coach Jennifer Golden and her squad have now begun the second half of the league slate and have six matches remaining, ending October 19th before the start of the postseason. If Greenwood were to win out – a distinct possibility – their 13-1 conference mark would earn them yet another conference championship and a #1 seed in the state tournament to be held in Searcy starting October 24th.
Siloam Springs
On Thursday, September 14th, the Lady Bulldogs hosted the Lady Panthers and took the match with relative ease, winning in straight sets, 25-23, 25-6, 25-18. The GHS girls controlled the net with 44 kill shots to just 27 for the visitors. Greenwood was led by Myia McCoy with 17 kills and Karsen Hart with 11. Keke Rice also had seven while Ella Dickinson and Salem Colburn had four kills each. Loren Eckart added five service aces while McCoy had three. Eckart and Hart led the squad in blocks with three and two, respectively.
Holding down the fort on the back row was senior libero Tori Howard with 18 digs, followed by McCoy with 12, Carsyn Holland with nine, Loren Eckart with eight, Lexi Wieser with seven, and Karsen Hart with five digs. Eckart led her teammates with 40 assists while Howard had 12 service returns to lead the team. Wieser and Holland also had eight returns each, while McCoy have six and Keke Rice five.
Mountain Home
Five days later, on the 19th, the GHS ladies made the long trek to Baxter County to face the Lady Bombers in a competitive match that went three sets. Greenwood won 25-20, 25-21, and 25-15. Led by Myia McCoy’s 15, Greenwood totaled 40 kill shots, with Karsen Hart getting nine and Keke Rice six to round out the top three attackers at the net. McCoy also led in service aces with three while Loren Eckart had two.
Karsen Hart had four blocks, followed by Ella Dickinson with three. Tori Howard and McCoy tied for the lead in digs with 17 each, while Carsyn Holland had 11 and Loren Eckart had eight. Eckart also led in assists with 26. Howard paced her teammates in service receptions with 19, while Myia McCoy had 16 and Carsyn Holland had 10.
Alma
On the 21st the Lady Bulldogs hosted the Lady Airedales in continuing conference play and won in straight sets, 25-20, 25-12, and 25-19. Myia McCoy had 13 slams to lead the offense for Greenwood, followed by Keke Rice with 10 kills and Karsen Hart with six. Loren Eckart led the home team with five service aces. Karsen Hart added a pair of blocks.
Three GHS players were at the top of the list with double-digit digs, led by Tori Howard with 15. Loren Eckart had 12 and Myia McCoy had 11 digs. Carsyn Holland also had eight digs and Lexi Wieser seven. Loren Eckart led the team with 27 assists. Howard led with 20 service receptions while McCoy had seven.
Paris
The Lady Bulldogs stepped away from conference play the following Saturday morning to take on the Lady Eagles of Paris in a round robin event at Greenwood that also involved Little Rock’s Baptist Prep. Greenwood split its two matches, starting with a straight set win over Paris, 25-18, 25-17, and 25-18. The home team attacked the net with 33 kill shots, led by Myia McCoy with 17. Karsen Hart added seven slams while Loren Eckart had three service aces. McCoy and Tori Howard had two aces each.
Salem Colburn led the team with seven blocks, while Loren Eckart had four. Tori Howard had 17 digs while Carsyn Holland had 12 and Myia McCoy had 10. As always, Eckart led the team with 27 assists while Howard handled 14 service receptions and Carsyn Holland eight.
Baptist Prep
Also nicknamed the Lady Eagles, Baptist Prep is a 3A school from the state’s capital city that’s lost just one match this season, posting a 24-1-1 record as of this writing. The afternoon contest was close, but the visitors were too much for the Lady Bulldogs, who fell in straight sets, 25-18, 27-25, and 25-20. Both teams attacked the net aggressively, with Baptist Prep holding a 45-38 advantage in kills. Greenwood was led by Myia McCoy with 17 slams while Karsen Hart had eight and Keke Rice six.
Greenwood had three total service aces and five total blocks. Loren Eckart led the team in digs with 10 while Tori Howard had nine, Myia McCoy seven, and Karsen Hart with six. Loren Eckart had 30 assists while Howard had 23 service receptions to lead their teammates. Carsyn Holland had 14 service returns and Lexi Wieser had 12.
Greenbrier
This past Tuesday, September 26th, the Lady Bulldogs journeyed to Central Arkansas to take on the Lady Panthers, winning in straight sets once again, 25-16, 25-25, and 25-20. Myia McCoy (20) accumulated nearly half of her team’s 43 kills, with Karsen Hart earning nine slams and Keke Rice seven. Hart and Carsyn Holland had two service aces each while Salem Colburn had a pair of blocks.
Five GHS girls had at least eight digs in the contest, led by Carsyn Holland with 14 and Lexi Wieser with nine. Myia McCoy, Loren Eckart, and Tori Howard had eight digs each. Setter Loren Eckart had 34 assists, while Howard led in service receptions with 13. Lexi Wieser had 10 receptions and Myia McCoy nine.
Russellville
Then on Thursday this week the Lady Cyclones came calling, needing a win to maintain a piece of the 5A West conference lead. But the hometown ladies in blue and white had other ideas, winning in four sets, 25-19, 25-14, 22-25, and 25-20, avenging Greenwood’s earlier loss at Russellville. Greenwood had 53 kills at the net to take charge of the match. An amazing 24 of those slams came off the hand of Myia McCoy, while teammates Keke Rice and Karsen Hart had 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Hart and Carsyn Holland also had three service aces each.
Hart also had four blocks to lead the team, while Salem Colburn and Myia McCoy had three blocks each. Tori Howard had 13 digs while three others – Carsyn Holland, Myia McCoy, and Loren Eckart – had seven digs each. Eckart had 39 assists to lead the squad and four GHS players had double digit service receptions – Howard (20), Holland (18), McCoy (16), and Lexi Wieser (10).
Upcoming matches
Greenwood travels to Van Buren next Tuesday before hosting Harrison in a huge conference match next Thursday. The winner of the GHS – HHS contest could go on to win the league title and grab a #1 seed in the playoffs. Siloam Springs follows on the road on October 10th, then a home contest against Mountain Home two days later. They will close out their regular season slate at Alma on the 17th and at home on the 19th against Greenbrier.