The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs' volleyball team has been busy, to the point of exhaustion. Just two weeks into the new school year the GHS girls have already played more than a dozen matches, including tournament play, crafting a 10-3 overall mark. The sports website Max Preps currently has Greenwood ranked fourth overall in the state.
Ft. Smith Northside
Greenwood was sorely tested at home on August 25th against Fort Smith Northside, but won all three sets, 25-20, 25-23, and 34-32 in an unbelievable third set endurance test. "It was a fight for sure," said GHS Head Coach Jennifer Golden. "It was a fun match"
The home team trailed 22-19 in the second set before riding a late 6-1 scoring run to pull out the win. They also seemed in control of the third set when they took a 16-12 advantage. But the Northsiders rallied back and took a 21-18 lead, and later led 23-20.
But the Lady Bulldogs responded with three consecutive points to tie the score at 23-all. The score then remained tied as both teams failed to take advantage of several set points.
When the match reached 32-all, Greenwood got the break they needed when the Lady Bears committed hitting errors on two straight points, surrendering the match in a three-game sweep to the Lady Bulldogs.
GHS freshman Camryn Presley finished the match with 10 kills, while senior Madi Pfeifer added nine kills. Junior Brooke Shortes had 35 assists and senior MaKenzie Presley and junior Carrie Ciesla had 18 digs each.
Tournament play
On Saturday the 27th of August the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Bentonville for the Early Bird Invitational tournament. Playing under modified rules, Greenwood finished the day with a 4-2 record.
The GHS girls went 2-1 in pool play, losing to Bentonville in straight sets (21-25, 17-25), beating Kickapoo (Springfield, MO) in three sets (16-25, 25-22, 18-16), and defeating Incarnate Word (St. Louis, MO) in two sets (25-10, 25-16).
Greenwood made the gold consolation bracket, and got revenge over Bentonville for their earlier loss, winning in three sets (25-18, 14-25, 15-8). The Lady Bulldogs then beat Ozark, MO in straight sets (25-19, 30-28) to win the third place match.
Shiloh Christian
After one day off, the GHS girls traveled back to Northwest Arkansas on Monday (August 29th) to take on the Lady Saints of Shiloh Christian in Springdale. Greenwood won that match as well, winning in straight sets (25-13, 25-20, 25-20).
Statistically, Greenwood leaders included Madi Pfeifer with 10 kills and five blocks, and Lilliah Pugh with eight kills and three blocks. MaKenzie Presley had four service aces and 24 digs. Sarah Snodgrass added 20 digs and fellow junior Brooke Shortes had 34 assists.
League opener
With no rest for the weary, the Lady Bulldogs began 6A/5A-West conference play last Tuesday (August 30th) by hosting the Class 5A Lady Airedales of Alma. After a tough opening set, Greenwood dominated the match, winning in three sets, 25-23, 25-3, and 25-13.
In the opening set, Alma went up 15-12 before Greenwood came back to tie the score. The Airedalettes regained the lead before the Lady Bulldogs rallied again and pulled ahead. Alma tied the game at 23-all, but Greenwood got back-to-back kills from Camryn Presley and Regan Scifres for the win.
Coach Golden was unhappy with her team's efforts in the first set, and let her players know about it. "I was not pleased with the intensity we came out with in that first game," she said. "Not that this was an excuse. We played nine matches last week, and then it was 10 (on Monday) and [today] made it 11 [matches] in the last week-and-a-half.
"I'm not saying we're tired, but it was a little bit of a letdown," said the coach. "But we seemed to turn it around in that second game. We had a little bit of an attitude adjustment, then we seemed to turn the light on."
Greenwood was unstoppable after that, racing out to a 6-0 lead in the second set. After Alma broke the run with a single point, the Lady Bulldogs ripped off 15 consecutive points to lead 21-1 before winning 25-3.
Up 13-9 in the third set, the Lady Bulldogs completed the sweep with a 7-2 scoring run, giving them a 20-11 advantage before winning easily, 25-13.
Lilliah Pugh had eight kills while Madi Pfeifer and Carrie Ciesla each had seven kills for Greenwood. Brooke Shortes added 23 assists and eight digs, while Lexie Castillow and MaKenzie Presley each had 10 digs. Castillow also had four of the Lady Bulldogs' 11 total service aces.
Clarksville
Last Thursday the GHS girls traveled to Clarksville for another conference match, easily topping the Class 5A Lady Panthers in straight sets (25-8, 25-10, 25-12).
Madi Pfeifer and Carrie Ciesla each had seven kills in the match, while freshman Camryn Presley and sophomore Abby Cagle had five each. Ciesla also led the team with nine aces.
Senior Hannah Johnston and Cielsa tied for the team lead in digs with seven each, while MaKenzie Presley and Lexie Castillow had six apiece. Brooke Shortes had 19 assists.
Farmington
The Lady Bulldogs hosted Farmington in conference play this past Tuesday and easily downed the Lady Cardinals in three sets (25-15, 25-18, 25-9).
Game stats were highlighted by 12 kills for Madi Pfeifer and seven for Lilliah Pugh. Hannah Johnston and Pugh both had four service aces. Lexie Castillow led the team with 18 digs, followed by Carrie Cielsa with 11 and Johnston with nine. Brook Shortes had 18 assists.