After beginning the season without their head coach and suffering through a tough start, the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs volleyball team has put together a six-game winning streak over the past two-plus weeks to springboard themselves back into the 5A West conference race and a possible playoff berth later this month. They are currently 6-4 in league play and 9-10 overall in fourth place behind Shiloh Christian (10-0), Farmington (8-2), and Van Buren (7-3).
Head Coach Jennifer Golden is back with her team after having back surgery in early September, returning within a couple weeks while still recovering. The GHS girls dropped 10 of their first 13 matches, including three non-conference tournament losses on the last day of August. Conference play followed with victories over Siloam Springs and Russellville before a winless drought from September 17-26. But starting on the 28th the Lady Bulldogs have won six straight, including four conference wins.
Greenwood has four tournament matches slated for this weekend in Ozark, Missouri, before finishing their regular and conference season schedules with matches against Van Buren, Shiloh Christian, Farmington, and Harrison. The 5A state tournament will be held in Van Buren the last three days of the month with the finals played in Hot Springs on November 2nd. The top four teams from each conference qualify to compete in the state tournament.
Siloam Springs
On September 10th the Lady Bulldogs won their road match against the Lady Panthers in a clean sweep, 3-0. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak and helped them open conference play on a positive note. The match was competitive, but Greenwood won 25-21, 25-16, and 25-22, winning the battle of the net with 38 total kill shots.
Loren Eckart led the way with eight kills, while Anna Forbus, Ella Dickinson, and Anna Grace Dedmon all had seven slams. Lily Johnson had six kills and Aspen Payton three. Greenwood also had seven service aces led by Alyssa Lovell and Lily Johnson with two each. Defensively, Anna Forbus had five of her team’s seven blocks at the net. Lexi Wieser had 18 digs while Loren Eckart had 11 and Alyssa Lovell eight. Rylee Daniel led her teammates with 15 assists while Loren Eckart had 11. Aspen Payton had 24 service returns and Lexi Wieser had 18.
Russellville
Two days later the GHS girls hosted the Lady Cyclones and won in straight sets, 25-15, 25-22, and 25-16. The Lady Bulldogs had 28 kills led by Anna Grace Dedmon with 11, Brianna Wilson with seven, and Aspen Payton with six. They had 11 service aces led by Dedmon with four while Payton and Loren Eckart had three each. Greenwood also had 11 total blocks paced by Brianna Wilson with five. Loren Eckart and Lexi Wieser both had 12 digs to lead their teammates. Rylee Daniel had six digs and 13 assists, second only to Loren Eckart’s 14 assists. Aspen Payton led Greenwood with 21 service returns, followed by Lexi Wieser with 18.
Alma
Starting 2-0 in 5A West play, the Lady Bulldogs were hopeful of another strong conference performance reminiscent of past years when they dominated the league race. But those hopes were soon dashed with another four-game losing streak, all against conference foes, starting with a four-set loss at Alma on September 17th. Greenwood won the opening set, 25-17, then lost 19-25, 15-25, and 25-27.
Greenwood had 46 kills in the match, led by Anna Grace Dedmon with 16 and Anna Forbus with 11. Aspen Payton had eight kills and Ella Dickinson had five. Payton and Loren Eckart had two service aces each. The Lady Bulldogs had three blocks as a team. Four GHS players reached double-digits in digs led by Loren Eckart with 18, Lexi Wieser with 15, Alyssa Lovell with 12, and Rylee Daniel with 11. Daniel also had 20 assists followed by Eckart with 19. Lexi Wieser had 30 service returns with Aspen Payton had 23 and Alyssa Lovell had 15.
Van Buren
Two days later, on September 19th, the Lady Bulldogs lost a heartbreaker on the road against the Lady Pointers, falling in a five-set match. The visitors lost the first two sets, 24-26 and 20-25, before winning the next two sets, 25-16 and 25-23. Van Buren then took the match by winning the decisive fifth set, 15-12. The GHS girls were aggressive at the net with 57 kills led by Anna Forbus with 23 and Anna Grace Dedmon with 18. Alyssa Lovell had two service aces.
Defensively, Anna Grace Dedmon had five blocks while Brianna Wilson and Anna Forbus had four each. Lexi Wieser had 45 digs followed by Loren Eckart with 31 and Aspen Payton with 10. Loren Eckart also led the team with 26 assists with Rylee Daniel right behind with 21. Alyssa Lovell led the way with 23 service returns, followed by Aspen Payton with 21 and Lexi Wieser with 17.
Shiloh Christian
The next week didn’t bring any relief for the GHS girls, starting with a third consecutive conference loss to the visiting Lady Saints. Greenwood fell in straight sets, 17-25, 13-25, and 17-25. Shiloh Christian dominated the net with 39 kills to just 26 for the home team. Anna Forbus had eight kills while Loren Eckart, Anna Grace Dedmon, and Ella Dickinson had five each. Both teams had four service aces with Greenwood’s Loren Eckart accounting for half of her team’s total.
On defense, Anna Forbus had three blocks and Lexi Wieser had 15 digs. Aspen Payton had 11 kills and Loren Eckart had 10. Eckart also had 16 assists to lead the team, followed by Rylee Daniel with seven. Lexi Wieser had 22 service returns while Aspen Payton had 16 and Alyssa Lovell 10.
Farmington
The losing slide continued later that same week against the visiting Lady Cardinals in five sets. Greenwood won the opener, 25-21, lost the second, 26-28, won the third, 25-23, lost the fourth, 25-27, before dropping the final set, 9-15. Greenwood had an incredible 68 kills at the net, led by Anna Grace Dedmon with 16, Anna Forbus and Loren Eckart with 14 each, and Ella Dickinson with 12. Lexi Wieser had four service aces and Aspen Payton two.
Protecting the net, the Lady Bulldogs had double-digit blocks, led by Anna Grace Dedmon, Brianna Wilson, and Anna Forbus with four each. Lexi Wieser paced Greenwood with 35 digs, followed by Loren Eckart with 17 and Aspen Payton with 15. Two players, Loren Eckart and Rylee Daniel, led the team with 26 and 24 assists, respectively. A trio of GHS players led in service returns, including Lexi Wieser with 24, Aspen Payton with 23, and Alyssa Lovell with 21.
Paris
The turnaround started on Saturday, September 28th in home non-conference play against the Lady Eagles of Paris High School. Greenwood won the highly competitive match in straight sets, 25-16, 25-23, and 25-22. The Lady Bulldogs had 38 kills led by Anna Forbus with 11 while teammates Anna Grace Dedmon and Ella Dickinson had nine slams each. Rylee Daniel had four service aces.
Guarding the net, Anna Forbus had four blocks and Anna Grace Dedmon two. Lexi Wieser had 19 digs, Raylee Wagoner 10, Aspen Payton seven, and Rylee Daniel six digs. Raylee Wagoner had 13 assists to lead her teammates followed by Rylee Daniel with 12. Lexi Wieser had 20 service returns for Greenwood while Aspen Payton had eight and Alyssa Lovell had seven.
Greenbrier
On that same Saturday, the Lady Panthers played a competitive match against the GHS girls, who won in five sets. Greenbrier won the first and third sets, 25-23 and 25-19, while the Lady Bulldogs won the second and fourth sets, 25-20 and 25-23. With the match tied at 2-2, the Greenwood girls won the decisive fifth set, 15-11. The home team had an impressive 55 kill shots at the net, led by Lily Johnson with 14. Ella Dickinson had 11 while Anna Grace Dedmon and Anna Forbus had 10 each. Rylee Daniel and Anna Grace Dedmon had two service aces each.
Defensively, Greenwood had 11 total blocks, led by Anna Forbus with five. Lexi Wieser had 22 digs followed by Loren Eckart with 14 while Alyssa Lovell had 10 and Rylee Daniel nine. Eckart and Daniel led the team in assists with 23 and 22, respectively. Lexi Wieser led Greenwood with 21 service returns followed by Alyssa Lovell with 20, Aspen Payton with 14, and Brianna Wilson with 12.
Harrison
Returning to conference play as the calendar flipped to October, the Lady Bulldogs continued to build on their new-found momentum by traveling to Crooked Creek for a five-set victory over the Lady Goblins. Greenwood won the first and fourth sets, 25-11 and 25-19, while the home team won sets two and three, 26-24 and 25-16. The visitors then dominated the fifth set, 15-7, to take the match. Greenwood had 44 kills led by Anna Grace Dedmon with 15 slams. Brianna Wilson had nine. Lexi Wieser and Rylee Daniel both had three service aces.
At the net, Anna Grace Dedmon was very active with seven blocks while Anna Forbus had four. Lexi Wieser had 31 digs to lead the team, followed by Aspen Payton with 13 and Rylee Daniel with 12. Daniel also had 22 assists while Loren Eckart had 20. Lexi Wieser paced Greenwood with 29 service returns, followed by Alyssa Lovell with 19 and Aspen Payton with 11.
Siloam Springs
Greenwood’s fourth straight win came at home on October 3rd against the Lady Panthers in straight sets, 25-17, 25-18, and 25-23. Anna Grace Dedmon led the Lady Bulldogs with 10 kill shots at the net, followed by Lily Johnson with nine. Rylee Daniel had four service aces while Alyssa Lovell had two.
At the net, several GHS players had three blocks, including Anna Grace Dedmon, Lily Johnson, Brianna Wilson, and Anna Forbus. Lexi Wieser had 16 digs, just ahead of Loren Eckart with 15. Aspen Payton had 11 digs. Rylee Daniel led Greenwood with 17 assists while Loren Eckart had nine. Lexi Wieser had 15 service returns to lead the team, while Alyssa Lovell had 13. Aspen Payton had eight returns, Lily Johnson six, and Brianna Wilson five.
Russellville
This past Tuesday the Lady Bulldogs won their fifth consecutive contest on the road against the Lady Cyclones, winning in four sets, dropping the first set 14-25 before winning the last three, 25-15, 25-21, and 25-19. Greenwood had 44 kill shots led by Anna Grace Dedmon with 16 and Anna Forbus with 11. Alyssa Lovell led the team with five service aces.
Also at the net defensively, Anna Forbus had five blocks. Lexi Wieser led her teammates with 17 digs while Aspen Payton had 14 saves and Loren Eckart 12 digs. Eckart also paced the team with 20 assists, followed by Rylee Daniel with 16. Lexi Wieser had 30 service returns for the visitors while Aspen Payton had 13 and Alyssa Lovell 12.
Alma
Last Thursday the Lady Bulldogs took the short trip to Alma to face the Lady Airedales, winning three extremely close sets, 25-23, 25-22, and 25-21 to take the match. The GHS girls attacked the net with 38 slams divided between eight players led by Anna Grace Dedmon with eight kills and Lily Johnson with seven. Brianna Wilson and Anna Forbus had six each while Aspen Payton had five and Ella Dickinson four. Lexi Wieser, Alyssa Lovell, and Loren Eckart all had a service ace.
Defensively, Greenwood had double-digit blocks led by Anna Forbus with nine and Aspen Payton with four. Lexi Wieser paced her teammates with 34 digs followed by Aspen Payton with 15 and 10 by Alyssa Lovell. Rylee Daniel had nine and Loren Eckart had eight digs. Rylee Daniel also led in assists with 14 while Loren Eckart had 11. Aspen Payton had 25 service returns followed by Lexi Wieser with 22 and Alyssa Lovell with 10.