The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs volleyball team is still in good shape with regards to a state tournament berth even after a rough weekend of tournament play at Ozark, Missouri. The GHS ladies currently stand at 7-5 in league play after splitting last week’s regular season matches against Van Buren and Shiloh Christian. Greenwood played at Farmington this past Tuesday and will host Harrison on Thursday before the state tournament begins October 29th at Van Buren.
The Greenwood girls traveled to Ozark, Missouri earlier this month for a tournament against five teams from the Show Me state, all losses in a truncated format. The Lady Bulldogs dropped three matches 0-2 and two matches 1-2. But in fairness, Head Coach Jennifer Golden and her team were playing shorthanded with a couple of starters missing. Then last Tuesday they hosted the Lady Pointers of Van Buren, winning in five sets, 3-2, before losing at Shiloh Christian last Thursday, 0-3.
Nixa, Missouri
The GHS girls opened tournament play on Friday night, October 11th at Ozark, Missouri against the Nixa Lady Eagles. Greenwood dropped the first and third sets by identical scores of 10-25 while winning the second set, 25-23. Nixa dominated the net offensively with 42 kill shots to just 19 for Greenwood. Aspen Payton had four slams to lead the Lady Bulldogs, followed by Anna Grace Dedmon, Lily Johnson, and Brianna Wilson with three kills each. Five different Lady Bulldogs had a service ace.
Aspen Payton and Anna Grace Dedmon had two blocks each while Lexi Wieser led the team with 13 digs. Rylee Daniel contributed eight assists and Loren Eckart had seven. Lexi Wieser paced her teammates with 24 service receptions while Aspen Payton had 17 and Alyssa Lovell had 10.
St. Peters Lutheran
The Lady Cougars were Greenwood’s next opponent, also on Friday night, a 2-0 sweep by the St. Peters girls. Once again, the Lady Bulldogs were outplayed at the net with 16 kills compared to 20 by their Missouri foes. Anna Grace Dedmon led the GHS girls with six slams, while Lily Johnson and sophomore Anniston Kennedy had two each. Greenwood had only one service ace.
Defensively, the Lady Bulldogs had no blocks at the net, but Aspen Payton had 10 digs to lead the squad. Lexi Wieser had seven digs and Loren Eckart led the team with nine assists. Three GHS girls had 10 service returns, including Aspen Payton, Lexi Wieser, and Alyssa Lovell. Addison Kittell and Lily Johnson had three service receptions.
It was in this match that the Lady Bulldogs suffered a blow when senior starter Anna Forbus left the action with an injured ankle and did not return for the remainder of the tournament. “Anna went down with a sprained ankle in the second match on Friday,” said her coach. “We also sat out Ella Dickinson for the weekend to rest a pulled oblique that she has been battling. But because we were down two starters, we were able to get some experience for a couple of sophomores. It was a rough weekend for our win/loss column, but not a waste in the least,” added Golden.
Ozark, Missouri
The Lady Tigers were the host team for the tournament and were Greenwood’s first opponents on Saturday, winning both sets. After battling to a 22-25 loss in set one, the Lady Bulldogs fell in the second set, 13-25. Ozark won the war at the net with 35 kills to just 17 for Greenwood. Lily Johnson had six slams for the Lady Bulldogs followed by Anna Grace Dedmon and Aspen Payton with four each. Three GHS players had one service ace each.
On the other side of the net, the GHS defense got two blocks by Anna Grace Dedmon and 33 total team digs, led by Lexi Wieser with nine and Alyssa Lovell with eight. Rylee Daniel and Loren Eckart had seven assists each to lead their teammates while Aspen Payton had 19 service receptions. Alyssa Lovell had 10 returns with Lily Johnson and Lexi Wieser having six each.
Jefferson City, MO
Greenwood’s second Saturday match was against the Lady Jays from the Missouri state capital. The Jeff City girls won the match 25-17 and 25-12. Continuing a trend throughout the tournament, the opposition won the battle of the front line with 28 kill shots to just 13 for Greenwood. Lily Johnson had four slams, Anna Grace Dedmon three, while Aspen Payton, Brianna Wilson, and Loren Eckart had two kills each. Rylee Daniel had the only Greenwood service ace.
Defensively, the Lady Bulldogs had no blocks at the net but had 23 digs, led by Lexi Wieser with eight, Loren Eckart with five, Alyssa Lovell with four, and Aspen Payton with three. Rylee Daniel and Loren Eckart had five assists each to lead the team, while Aspen Payton had 15 service receptions, followed by Lexi Wieser with nine and Alyssa Lovell with six returns.
Logan-Rogersville
Greenwood’s final tournament match last Saturday was against the Lady Wildcats, a three-set affair that was competitive throughout. Greenwood won the first set, 25-19, fell in set two, 21-25, then lost the decisive third set, 16-25. Both teams attacked the net, but once again the edge went to the opposition with 38 kills compared to 26 for the Lady Bulldogs. Anna Grace Dedmon led the way for Greenwood with eight slams, followed by Aspen Payton with six, Lily Johnson with four, and Anniston Kennedy with three. Aspen Payton also had two service aces.
Anna Grace Dedmon, Lily Johnson, and Brianna Wilson each had a block at the net. Lexi Wieser led the way defensively with 27 digs or saves, followed by Aspen Payton with 13 and Rylee Daniel with seven. Anna Grace Dedmon, Alyssa Lovell, and Brianna Wilson had six digs each. Loren Eckart had 11 assists to lead the team while Rylee Daniel had seven. Aspen Payton paced her teammates with 25 service receptions. Lexi Wieser and Lily Johnson had eight each and Alyssa Lovell had five.
Van Buren
Returning to 5A West conference play last Tuesday, the Lady Bulldogs hosted the Lady Pointers at the GHS volleyball arena and won a spirited five-set match, 21-25, 26-24, 17-25, 25-23, and 15-12. The win improved their league mark to 7-4 before taking on conference leader Shiloh Christian two days later. The Lady Saints are unbeaten in 5A West play and are one of the best teams in the state regardless of classification. The Van Buren girls are just ahead of Greenwood in the league standings and will host the state tournament in two weeks. The GHS victory also extended the Lady Bulldogs’ conference winning streak to seven games.
Earlier this season the Lady Pointers won at home over Greenwood, 3-2, so last week’s victory was sweet revenge for the Lady Bulldogs, though they had to come from behind to make it happen. Likely it was aggressive play at the net that sparked the GHS offense with 56 kill shots led by senior Ella Dickinson with 15 slams. Senior Brianna Wilson and junior Anna Grace Dedmon both had 14 kill shots. Alyssa Lovell (2) and Lexi Wieser had the only service aces for Greenwood.
On the defensive side, Anna Grace Dedmon had three blocks and Lexi Wieser excelled with 40 digs. Teammates Aspen Payton (12), Loren Eckart (11), and Alyssa Lovell (10) also reached double digits in saves. Two players – Loren Eckart and Rylee Daniel – led in assists with 31 and 21, respectively. Lexi Wieser (37) and Aspen Payton (32) led in service receptions while Alyssa Lovell had 11 returns and Lily Johnson eight.
Shiloh Christian
Last Thursday the GHS girls traveled to Springdale to take on the high-flying, first-place Lady Saints (12-0, 28-4), and the Lady Bulldogs pushed the home team to the brink in the second and third sets. Shiloh won the match 25-14, 25-22, and 25-22. The Shiloh girls will likely earn the top seed from the west and go into the 5A tournament as one of the overall favorites to win the state crown. Pending next week’s results, Greenwood could go into the state tournament as a #3 or #4 seed.
With Ella Dickinson back in the lineup and Anna Forbus still sidelined, the Lady Bulldogs were credited with 27 overall kills, but still far short of the 47 slams by Shiloh Christian. Dickinson had five kills while Lily Johnson and Anna Grace Dedmon led the team with six kills each. Brianna Wilson also had five slams while Aspen Payton had four. Payton also had the only Greenwood service ace.
Defensively, Anna Grace Dedmon had three blocks at the net, accounting for half of Greenwood’s total of six. Lexi Wieser had 10 digs followed by Alyssa Lovell with nine. Aspen Payton had seven digs and Loren Eckart had six. Eckart also had 13 assists to lead the Lady Bulldogs while teammate Rylee Daniel had nine digs. Lexi Wieser led with 16 service receptions, followed by Alyssa Lovell with 12, Lily Johnson with 10, and Aspen Payton with nine.