The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs' volleyball team, under the direction of Head Coach Jennifer Golden, opened their season this past Monday night at home against 7A powerhouse Fayetteville, losing a hard-fought four-set match, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, and 26-24.
The GHS girls made Fayetteville work for its win, though, taking the opening game by four points, 25-21. But the Lady Purple 'Dogs came back to win two straight by identical scores of 25-20. But just when Fayetteville seemed to be in control after taking a sizable lead late in the fourth set, Greenwood rallied from a 23-20 deficit, scoring four consecutive points to put itself one score away from a fifth and deciding set.
But Fayetteville regrouped and earned the next point to tie the score at 24-all. Greenwood made an error on the next play, then on match point Fayetteville blocked a shot at the net to seal the victory.
The Lady Bulldogs trailed early in the opening set, 4-1, before finally taking the lead and building it to three, at 12-9, when sophomore Carrie Ciesla blocked a shot at the net.
Greenwood's biggest advantage was four points, 15-11, after senior Regan Jones placed a perfect shot out of reach in the back right corner. Fayetteville got within a single point twice, the last time at 22-21. But on the next play Jones delivered again with an uncontested kill. Fayetteville errors then allowed Greenwood to take the first game of the match.
Greenwood then got off to a promising start in the second set on back-to-back kills from seniors Kelsy Knox and Erin Black, put the Lady Bulldogs up 2-0. The lead then expanded to 8-4 before Fayetteville rallied to go in front. Greenwood regained the lead at 18-15, but a Fayetteville rally put the visitors in front to stay.
Fayetteville scored the first seven points of the third set, but Greenwood rode the strong play of Erin Black at the net and roared back to take an 11-9 lead. But another Fayetteville 7-0 run helped the Lady Purple 'Dogs to regain control of the match for good.
The GHS girls bounced back from their season-opening loss to Fayetteville by winning their first road match of the season the following day, sweeping yet another Class 7A school, Rogers Heritage, by scores of 25-23, 25-19, and 25-9.
Against Fayetteville, Erin Black had 15 kills, 15 assists, two aces and 13 digs. Sophomore Brooke Shortes had 15 assists, Madi Pfiefer had 9 kills, sophomore Lilliah Pugh had 3 stuff blocks, sophomore Lexi Castillow had 15 digs, and Carrie Ciesla was credited with 6 kills.
Following Monday's close loss to Fayetteville, Head Coach Jennifer Golden said, "Last night's match was a tough one. We lost in 4 games, but I'm most proud of my team coming out against Fayetteville with a tough, never-give-up attitude during the entire match.
"Fayetteville is considered one of, if not the best team in the state, and we competed with them and came to close to beating them. We definitely had our chances," said the coach. "To be able to show that amount of heart and effort this early in the year tells me that we will have a great season, and we can only get better from here.
The coach then offered a quick assessment of her team and her top players. "We have some seasoned veterans returning with outside hitter/setter Erin Black and middle hitter Kelsy Knox," said Golden. Another talented veteran presence, Regan Jones made a position change from middle hitter to right side hitter this year. Madi Pfiefer is also a trusted right side hitter, according to the coach, and defensive specialist MaKenzie Presley rounds out the top returnees.
"Also returning from last year are contributors Hannah Johnston, Abbie Weaver, and Tanner Gilliaum," said Golden. "An exciting aspect of this year is all of the sophomore newcomers. Starting at setter is Brooke Shortes. Opposite of Erin Black at outside hitter is Carrie Ciesla. Starting at middle hitter opposite of Kelsy Knox is Lilliah Pugh.
"I also have two back row sophomore players, Meredith James as defensive specialist and Lexi Castillow as libero," said the coach. "I feel like we are very deep in some areas of our game. We have options in a lot of positions that we've never had before."
As for the tough early schedule, Golden arranged it so on purpose, saying, "I chose my pre-conference line-up (gauntlet), because it's the best way for us to see [good] competition and [face] adversity early on. Playing tough games helps us learn from our weaknesses, and shows us what we need to work on to become the state contender that we all believe we can be."
Greenwood is back on the road again this Thursday as the Lady Bulldogs play at Fort Smith Northside, yet another tough 7A opponent.