The Greenwood varsity girls’ volleyball team is off to the 5A state tournament this week in Marion, located about as far east as Fort Smith is west within the confines of the Wonder State. Nearly 300 miles separate Greenwood from Marion, but both schools have winning programs that could collide in the second round of the tournament, which began on Tuesday.
The Lady Bulldogs, seeded #2 from the 5A West, are slated to play Jacksonville (#3 Central) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. At 25-1 overall, Marion is the top ranked team in Class 5A, and will take on the Lady Bulldogs of White Hall (#4 South), also on Tuesday. The winners of both matches will advance to the quarterfinal round on Wednesday at 6 p.m. If the Greenwood girls can survive those first two rounds, then anything can happen the rest of the way.
Head Coach Jennifer Golden and her players earned a share of the conference title last Thursday with a victory at home over Greenbrier, giving both schools one loss in league play. However, at this writing the details and stats from the match were not yet available and will be published later.
But in their season series, each team won on their home court while sweeping the rest of the conference schedule to end up with identical 13-1 records. But the Lady Panthers earned the league’s #1 seed in the playoffs through the tiebreaker, making Greenwood the #2 seed.
The GHS girls were quite busy over the past two weeks as the regular season came to a close, not only playing their final four league matches, but also competing in a very tough tournament at Ozark, Missouri, against some of the best teams in the Show Me state. Their record (20-12) may not be up to their usual standards, but the Lady Bulldogs have played some top-notch competition this fall to prepare themselves for the rigors of the state tournament. The majority of their losses have come at the hands of much bigger schools in non-conference or tournament play.
Alma
On Tuesday, October 12th, the Lady Bulldogs made the short trip to Alma to face the Lady Airedales, their longtime rivals, winning in straight sets, 25-23, 25-18, and 25-12. It was Greenwood’s 12th conference victory on the season and set up the league showdown two days later against Greenbrier.
In the match the GHS girls attacked the net with great frequency, racking up 39 total kills in three sets, led by Myia McCoy with 10. Landis Luke had eight kills, Courtney Swilling added seven slams, while Lane Presley had five. Greenwood also had seven service aces, led by Presley (3) and Ashlyn Butler (2).
Defensively, the Lady Bulldogs had 10 blocks at the net. Lane Presley and Courtney Swilling tied for the team lead with four each. In the backcourt, Tori Howard led her teammates with 14 digs, followed by Lilly Gigerich with seven and Rylie Holland with five. Holland also led the team in assists with 13. Howard led Greenwood in service receptions with 16, followed by Lilly Gigerich (10), and Myia McCoy (9).
Rogersville, MO
In tournament play at Ozark (MO) on Saturday, October 16th, the Lady Bulldogs closed out their long day with a 2-0 straight set loss to the Logan-Rogersville Lady Wildcats, 23-25 and 16-25. For the day Greenwood went 1-4 against an all-Missouri lineup. Despite the day’s lopsided tournament record, all five matches were competitive and three of the opponents were from much larger schools than Greenwood.
In the abbreviated tournament format, the Lady Bulldogs were unable to control the net with just 16 total slams compared to 31 for the Lady Wildcats. Landis Luke had five kills for Greenwood while Rylie Holland and Kylie Lawson had three each. Greenwood did have more service aces (5) than the Logan girls (3).
On defense, the Lady Wildcats also doubled Greenwood with eight blocks to four and had 56 digs to 36 for the Lady Bulldogs. Myia McCoy had 11 saves to lead Greenwood, followed by Lilly Gigerich with eight, Tori Howard with seven, and Rylie Holland with five digs. Holland also led the team in assists with six, while Ashlyn Butler had five. McCoy and Gigerich tied for the team lead in service receptions. Howard and Kylie Lawson fielded eight and seven serves , respectively.
Wildwood, MO
Lafayette High School, with a student population of over 1,800 students, is more than twice the size of Greenwood, and the Lady Lancers took both sets against the GHS girls, winning 25-21 and 25-12. The Lady Bulldogs had 20 kill shots in the short match, led by Myia McCoy with eight and Landis Luke with six. Greenwood had no services aces in the contest.
On the prevention side, the GHS girls had four blocks at the net and a total of 29 digs in the backcourt, led by Rylie Holland and Lilly Gigerich with seven saves each, Myia McCoy with six and Tori Howard with five digs. Holland led the team with nine assists, followed by Ashlyn Butler with six. Howard and McCoy tied for the team lead in service receptions with 15 each, while Kylie Lawson added 10.
Eldon, MO
Representing the smallest school taking part in the tournament, the Eldon Lady Mustangs lost their match to Greenwood in straight sets, 25-15 and 25-13. The Lady Bulldogs scored on 22 kill shots compared to just 13 for the Eldon girls. Landis Luke and Myia McCoy led the GHS girls with four slams each, with Kylie Lawson accounted for three more. Greenwood had no service aces in the match.
On defense, the Lady Bulldogs had three blocks at the net, 29 digs in the backcourt, and 12 total assists. Tori Howard led the team in saves with 11 digs while Carsyn Holland had six saves and Rylie Holland four. Ashlyn Butler had six assists and Rylie Holland had four. Tori Howard led her teammates with 10 service receptions.
Carl Junction, MO
At just over 1,000 students, Carl Junction High School is located near Joplin, Missouri, and the Bulldogs are their team mascot, which made their match with the Greenwood girls somewhat confusing. But in the end, the Missouri Lady Bulldogs defeated the Arkansas Lady Bulldogs in three sets, 25-22, 21-25, and 15-7.
Offensively, Greenwood had 24 kill shots, 12 less than Carl Junction’s 36. Tori Howard had seven spikes to lead her teammates, while Courtney Swilling had five kills, Landis Luke four, and Lane Presley three. Lillyanna Gigerich added two service aces for Greenwood compared to a total of six for the girls from the Show Me state.
The GHS girls had three blocks at the net, 45 digs in the backcourt, and 21 total assists. Tori Howard had 10 saves while Myia McCoy had eight and Carsyn Holland six digs. Ashlyn Butler and Rylie Holland tied for the team lead in assists with 10 each. Kylie Lawson had 11 service receptions, followed by Carsyn Holland and Lilly Gigerich with seven each.
Jefferson City, MO
Jeff City is the capital of Missouri, and its main high school boasts over 2,500 students, nearly three times the size of Greenwood, but the Lady Jays needed three sets to put the GHS girls away, 25-16, 23-25, and 15-12 in an early morning match. Jefferson City won the battle of the net with 44 kills to 28 for Greenwood and 10 blocks to five for the Lady Bulldogs.
Leading the offense for the GHS girls was Myia McCoy with 11 slams, followed by Courtney Swilling and Landis Luke with seven kills each. Greenwood also had two service aces, but far less than the seven for the Lady Jays.
Defensively, the Lady Bulldogs had five blocks led by Courtney Swilling and Madie Bateman with two each. Both teams had 57 digs with Tori Howard (11), Rylie Holland (10), Ashlyn Butler (9), Lilly Gigerich (6), and Carsyn Holland (5) leading the way. Ashlyn Butler and Rylie Holland tied for the team lead in assists with 13 each, while Carsyn Holland (15), Tori Howard (14), and Lilly Gigerich (11) led the squad in service receptions.
Mountain Home
On October 14th the Lady Bulldogs continued to take care of business in 5A West play, hosting and downing the Lady Bombers of Mountain Home in a highly competitive match, winning in straight sets, 25-18, 29-27, and 26-24. Greenwood dominated the net offensively with 45 kill shots, led by Myia McCoy and Landis Luke with a dozen slams each. Courtney Swilling added eight kills and Lane Presley six. The latter also had three service aces in the match.
The Lady Bulldogs also had 15 total blocks in the match, led by Courtney Swilling with seven. A testament to the intensity of the match, Greenwood had 97 total digs in the backcourt. Myia McCoy had 21, Tori Howard 20, Ashlyn Butler 13, and Rylie Holland 12 to lead the team. Holland also had 16 assists and Ashlyn Butler 14. Tori Howard had 29 service receptions.
Siloam Springs
Coming off their tournament experience at Conway, the Lady Bulldogs returned to league play on October 12th on the road at Siloam Springs, earning a hard-fought victory in straight sets, 25-20, 30-28, and 25-14 over the Lady Panthers. At the net the GHS girls acquitted themselves well with 38 slams, led by Myia McCoy with 11 and Landis Luke with 10. Ashlyn Butler had a pair of service aces.
Greenwood had 10 total blocks evenly spread among five players and the team had 56 total digs, led by Lilly Gigerich with 12, Rylie Holland and Myia McCoy with 10 each, Ashlyn Butler with nine, and Tori Howard with eight. The Lady Bulldogs also had 38 assists with Rylie Holland accounting for 19 of them, followed by Ashlyn Butler with 13. Tori Howard led her teammates in service receptions with 13 while Myia McCoy had 10.