It’s been a challenging season for the Lady Bulldogs’ volleyball squad, still hopeful of making the 2025 postseason that is quickly approaching. After more than six weeks of play, the GHS ladies are 14-14 overall, but just 4-6 in 5A West conference play. Only the top four teams in the final conference standings will qualify for the playoffs and Greenwood is currently in fifth place behind Farmington (10-0), Shiloh Christian (8-2), Van Buren (7-3), and Siloam Springs (6-4), leaving the Lady Bulldogs with a lot of ground to make up in a short time. Three games back of Van Buren and two games behind Siloam Springs with just four games remaining, they can’t afford another loss while hoping the two teams ahead of them stumble badly. A tall task for sure, but it’s not over ‘til it’s over, right?
Over the last three weeks, Head Coach Jennifer Golden and her staff and players have tried to right the ship after a tough 1-3 start in conference play. But they lost three of their next four games in league play before winning their last two, accounting for their current 4-6 mark. They have faired better in tournament play, picking up eight of their wins during weekend trips to Bentonville (AR) in September, and more recently in Ozark (MO).
Shiloh Christian
The Lady Bulldogs were blown out in game one on their September 23rd trip to Springdale to face the Lady Saints of Shiloh Christian. That opening score was 8-25, though the visitors rallied to play much better in the next two games, still dropping the match in straight sets, 8-25, 18-25, and 20-25. The home squad completely dominated the front line and the net with 44 kill shots to just 17 for Greenwood. The Lady Saints also had a whopping 18 service aces compared to three for the visitors.
Addi Webb had all three aces for the Lady Bulldogs while Anniston Kennedy and Rylee McAdams led Greenwood in kill shots with five each, followed by Emma Helms with four and Lily Johnson with two slams. There weren’t many blocks at the net by either team, but the home team had more saves on the back line with 55 digs to 32 for Greenwood. Julia Witherington led the Lady Bulldogs with nine digs while Raylee Wagoner had eight saves and Lily Johnson had four.
The Lady Bulldogs had only eight assists in the game, five by Wagoner and three by Witherington. By comparison, Shiloh Christian had 40 assists. The visitors had 47 service receptions, led by Emma Helms with 14, followed by Julia Witherington with eight, Abrey Jureka with six, while Hadley Webb, Alyssa Lovell, and Lily Johnson with four service returns each.
Farmington
Two days later, on September 25th, the Lady Bulldogs once again traveled up I-49 to Northwest Arkansas to take on the Lady Cardinals of Farmington, the top team in the 5A West, still unbeaten in conference play. But after taking the first game, 25-20, the Lady Bulldogs dropped the next three games, 19-25, 19-25, and 22-25. Both squads were active at the net, combining for over 100 kill shots, 46 by Greenwood, led by Molly Lunney and Raylee McAdams with 11 each. Emma Helms and Rebekah Voris had eight slams each while Lily Johnson had four. McAdams and Abrey Jureka had two service aces apiece.
Defensively, the Lady Cards won the war at the net with seven blocks to just two for Greenwood. The Lady Bulldogs did lead in defensive digs with 64 total saves on the back line, led by Julia Witherington with 18, Alyssa Lovell with 10, Abrey Jureka with nine, and Lily Johnson and Rebekah Voris with five digs each. Addi Webb led the Lady Bulldogs in ball handling with 23 assists, followed by Raylee Wagoner with 15. Three GHS players reached double figures in service receptions, including Abrey Jureka with 22, Alyssa Lovell with 20, and Julia Witherington with 18.
Harrison
The next Tuesday, September 30th, the Harrison Lady Goblins came calling at the GHS volleyball arena and suffered a 3-0 sweep at the hands of the Lady Bulldogs, who completely dominated the court, winning 25-10, 25-13, and 25-18. The home team did so by controlling the net play with 35 kill shots to just 17 for the visitors. Raylee McAdams led the way with nine, followed by Lily Johnson with six and Rebekah Voris with five. Three others had three slams and three more players had two each. Greenwood also had six service aces to three for Harrison, led by Raylee Wagoner’s three aces.
At the net on defense the home team had six blocks, three by Raylee McAdams, matching Harrison’s team total. On the back row, the GHS defense dug 51 balls to extend play, led by Julia Witherington with 10, Alyssa Lovell with eight, Raylee Wagoner with six, Abrey Jureka with five, and Rebekah Voris four. Wagoner led Greenwood in ball handling with 13 assists while Addi Webb had 10. Alyssa Lovell and Julia Witherington had 11 service receptions each and Abrey Jureka had nine.
Siloam Springs
October’s first match was on the road against the Lady Panthers, one of the teams ahead of Greenwood in the league standings. The match was close, but the home team won 3-1, winning games one, three, and four, 25-17, 25-20, and 25-20. The visitors won game two, also 25-20. Greenwood was outplayed at the net with 38 kill shots compared to 54 by the Lady Panthers. Rylee McAdams led the Lady Bulldogs with 11 slams, followed by Emma Helms with eight, Rebekah Voris with seven, and Addi Chaplin with six. Addi Webb had five service aces and Greenwood had four total blocks.
The two teams combined for an incredible 156 total digs, 68 by the Lady Bulldogs, led by Julia Witherington with 21, while Raylee Wagoner and Abrey Jureka had 13 each. Alyssa Lovell added eight digs. Wagoner also had 13 assists while Witherington had 10. She also led the team in service receptions with 25, while Jureka had 16, Alyssa Lovell had 11, and Emma Helms 10.
Russellville
On Thursday, October 7th, the Lady Bulldogs won a straight set victory over the visiting Lady Cyclones of Russellville, with game three going into overtime. The hometown ladies won 25-18, 26-16, and 28-26. Greenwood had 40 slams at the net led by Rylee McAdams with 12 kills while Lily Johnson had eight. Abrey Jureka led the team with three service aces. Defensively at the net, Rylee McAdams had four blocks, two-thirds of Greenwood’s team total.
Two Lady Bulldogs topped the list of back row defenders for Greenwood. Julia Witherington had 14 digs while Raylee Wagoner had 10 saves. Rylee McAdams added nine digs, Abrey Jureka seven saves, and Alyssa Lovell six digs. Raylee Wagoner was the home team’s top ball handler with 17 assists, followed by teammate Addi Webb with 14. Julie Witherington led the squad with 23 service receptions while Alyssa Lovell had 14 returns.
Alma
Two days later, on Thursday the 9th, Greenwood won another home match, this time over the Lady Airedales of Alma, sweeping the season series 2-0. But the second victory required five sets, with Greenwood winning the odd numbered games, 25-11, 25-23, and 15-9, dropping the even numbered games, 21-25 and 16-25. The Lady Bulldogs dominated the net offensively with 86 kill shots, led by Lily Johnson and Rylee McAdams with an incredible 31 slams each. Anniston Kennedy added 17 kills and Emma Helms had 13. Abrey Jureka added five service aces, half of Greenwood’s team total.
On defense, the GHS girls had four total blocks, but 87 back row digs. Julie Witherington led the way with 19 saves, while teammates Raylee Wagoner and Alyssa Lovell had 11 digs each. Abrey Jureka had nine saves and Rylee McAdams had six. In the ball handling department, two Lady Bulldogs topped the assists chart. Raylee Wagoner and Addi Webb had 18 and 16 assists, respectively. Julia Witherington literally had half of Greenwood’s 72 service receptions with 36 individual returns. Alyssa Lovell had 13, the only other GHS player in double figures.
Ozark, MO, tournament
Last weekend the Lady Bulldogs traveled to just outside Springfield, Missouri, for their annual participation in a tournament in Ozark, MO. Over two days, last Friday and Saturday, the GHS ladies played six truncated matches, winning four straight sandwiched between two losses, only one of which went three games. Greenwood’s opponents included one Arkansas school (Little Rock Central) and five teams from the Show Me State – Nixa, Logan-Rogersville, Springfield Catholic, Springfield Central, and Eureka.
Last Friday the GHS girls opened play against the Nixa Lady Eagles and battled hard in two very competitive games, though the result was not what they wanted. Nixa won both contests, 27-25 and 25-20, and did so partly by controlling the front line, with 33 kill shots to 17 for Greenwood. Both teams had four service aces and Nixa had four blocks to three for Greenwood.
Emma Helms and Rylee McAdams led the Lady Bulldogs with five slams each while Raylee Wagoner had two service aces. McAdams had two of Greenwood’s three blocks at the net. Defensively, Greenwood had 22 digs on the back row, compared to 46 for Nixa. Julie Witherington had 12 saves to lead the way while Addi Webb had three digs. Raylee Wagoner led her teammates with seven assists. Addi Webb had four. Julie Witherington had 17 service receptions, followed by teammates Alyssa Lovell (8), Hadley Webb (5), and Emma Helms (5).
Also last Friday, Greenwood defeated the Lady Wildcats of Logan-Rogersville High School, winning in three games, 25-11, 17-25, and 25-22. The Lady Bulldogs had 35 kill shots at the net with Emma Helms setting the pace with 11, followed by Rylee McAdams with eight, Raylee Wagoner with five, Addi Chaplin with four, and three others who combined for seven slams. The GHS ladies also had 10 service aces spread among six players, led by Raylee Wagoner with three.
On defense, Rylee McAdams had all three of Greenwood’s blocks at the net, while the team combined for a total of 47 digs. Julie Witherington led the way with 22 saves. No other GHS player achieved double digits in digs, but Alyssa Lovell was next with seven saves while teammates Raylee Wagoner and Rylee McAdams had five digs each. Addi Webb and Raylee Wagoner had 14 and 11 assists, respectively. Julie Witherington had 20 service returns for Greenwood followed by Alyssa Lovell (9) and Emma Helms (8).
Last Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs defeated the Lady Tigers of Little Rock’s Central High School, though details and statistics from the match were not available. But the latest MaxPreps Arkansas rankings have Central listed at #9 in the state. Later that day, Greenwood won in a two-game sweep over Springfield Catholic High School, winning 25-10 and 25-8. Five different Lady Bulldogs combined for 18 kill shots, led by Rylee McAdams with five, Raylee Wagoner with four, while Addi Chaplin, Lily Johnson, and Emma Helms had three kills each.
Rylee McAdams led her teammates with six service aces while Emma Helms had the team’s only block. The GHS back line combined for 22 digs spread among eight players, led by Julia Witherington with eight followed by Raylee Wagoner with four and Emma Helms with three. Wagoner also led the squad in ball handling with eight assists while Addi Webb had four. Julie Witherington had seven service receptions for Greenwood while Alyssa Lovell had six.
The Greenwood girls closed out last Saturday’s tournament action by beating Springfield Central, 2-0, before falling to Eureka, MO, 0-2. The Lady Bulldogs breezed through its victory over Central, winning easily, 25-17 and 25-12, while the match against Eureka was much more competitive, though Greenwood lost both games, 17-25 and 22-25.
Nine GHS players combined for 22 kill shots against Springfield Central, led by Raylee Wagoner and Rylee McAdams with five slams each. Emma Helms added four kills. McAdams also added a pair of service aces, half of Greenwood’s total of four. The Lady Bulldogs had just one defensive block at the net but had 36 digs on the back line spread among nine different players. Alyssa Lovell led with eight digs while Raylee Wagoner was next with seven saves and Julie Witherington had six. Addi Webb led the team with eight assists and Julia Witherington was #1 in service returns with ten, while Alyssa Lovell had six.
Against Eureka, the Lady Bulldogs had 16 kill shots compared to 27 for the Lady Wildcats. Rylee McAdams led the way with five slams, while Anniston Kennedy had four. Greenwood also had three service aces, one each by Julie Witherington, Raylee Wagoner, and Abrey Jureka. Lily Johnson and Rylee McAdams had two blocks each.
Defensively, both teams had 29 digs. Julie Witherington led her GHS teammates with eight, followed by Alyssa Lovell with six while six others combined for 15 saves. Addi Webb had eight assists to lead her teammates in ball handling, while Raylee Wagoner had four. Abrey Jureka and Alyssa Lovell both had nine service receptions for Greenwood while Julia Witherington had seven, Rebekah Voris had five, and Emma Helms had four service returns.
The Lady Bulldogs traveled to Van Buren this week on Tuesday and will host Shiloh Christian on Thursday. They will close out their regular season next week at home against Farmington on Tuesday and at Harrison next Thursday. Barring a miraculous finish over the next two weeks, the GHS girls will miss the postseason state tournament, but that in no way diminishes the hard work and dedication they have poured into this season, and for the team’s seniors, into their careers. Good luck ladies.