The Greenwood High School volleyball season began the first week of school and is now moving into the 5A West conference schedule, a realm dominated by the Lady Bulldogs for many years under the guidance of Head Coach Jennifer Golden. After some tough early matches against non-conference foes from larger schools, the GHS girls are now ready to flex their muscles against their conference opponents.
The Lady Bulldogs are 6-5 overall on the season, including four abbreviated tournament contests, and have won consecutive conference matches over Van Buren and Harrison after dropping their league opener at Russellville. They host Siloam Springs on Thursday this week and will go to Mountain Home next Tuesday before hosting Alma two days later next Thursday.
Fayetteville
The GHS girls warmed up for their regular season with a scrimmage at Shiloh Christian on the fourth day of classes on August 17th in preparation for their official season opener at home against the Lady Purple Dogs of Fayetteville, one of the most dominate volleyball programs in Class 6A. While the Fayetteville girls won the match in straight sets (3-0), the contest was close and competitive throughout, 25-21, 25-22, and 25-21. The match was played on Monday, August 21st.
As the scores would indicate, both teams were very close statistically. Myia McCoy led Greenwood in kill shots with 16, followed by fellow seniors Keke Rice (13) and Karsen Hart (11). Four different players had a service ace for the Lady Bulldogs and the team was credited with 36 digs, led by senior Tori Howard and junior Loren Eckart with eight digs each. McCoy had seven, senior Carsyn Holland had five, and junior Lexi Wieser had four. Loren Eckart led the team with 38 assists, while Tori Howard had 19 service receptions, followed by Carsyn Holland with 14, and Lexi Wieser with 10.
Springdale Har-Ber
On Thursday the 24th of August, the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Springdale to face Class 6A Har-Ber High School, a four-set match that went the way of Greenwood after dropping the opening game, 25-21. But Coach Golden rallied her team to win the next three games, 25-20, 25-28, and 25-15 to capture the match.
The GHS girls held a significant advantage attacking at the net, with 59 kill shots to 43 for Har-Ber. Myia McCoy led the way with 26 kills for Greenwood, followed by Karsen Hart with 17, and Keke Rice with nine. The team had seven service aces led by Loren Eckart with four and Karsen Hart with three. Hart also had three blocks as did senior Salem Colburn, while McCoy had two. The team had 40 digs with Tori Howard collecting 11 and McCoy with nine while Loren Eckart had 31 assists. Howard had 27 service receptions to lead her teammates.
Early Bird Tournament
On Saturday, August 26th, the Lady Bulldogs went to Bentonville for the Early Bird Tournament with four two-set matches against Bentonville-West, Cabot, Conway, and Springdale Har-Ber, all 6A schools. Greenwood went 2-2 on the day but got some valuable experience against solid programs from larger schools in preparation for conference play.
Against their opening opponent that morning the Lady Bulldogs were dominant, winning 25-11 and 25-14 over the host school, Bentonville-West. Myia McCoy had 10 kills while Lexi Wieser had five service aces and Karsen Hart had three. Hart also had five blocks while Tori Howard led the team with 11 digs. Loren Eckart had six digs and 12 assists, while Howard, McCoy, and Carsyn Holland led the team in service receptions with six, five, and four, respectively.
The Lady Bulldogs also won their second match over the Cabot Lady Panthers in a much more competitive contest, 27-25 and 25-18. Myia McCoy led the team with nine kill shots, followed by Keke Rice with five and Karsen Hart and Salem Colburn with four each. Carsyn Holland and Tori Howard had two service aces each while Salem Colburn had five blocks and Myia McCoy four. Loren Eckart had 19 assists with Howard (12) and Holland (11) leading in service receptions.
But the last two matches of the day were not as kind to the GHS ladies, starting with a 2-0 loss to Conway, 25-14 and 25-18. The Lady Wampus Cats controlled the net with 24 kills to just 14 for Greenwood, led by Myia McCoy with five. Conway also have five service aces to just two for the Lady Bulldogs. Greenwood had just two blocks compared to six for Conway, while both teams had 35 digs, with Tori Howard leading the GHS girls with nine while Myia McCoy had seven. Loren Eckart had 10 assists and Howard had 10 service receptions. Keke Rice, Carsyn Holland, and McCoy also had seven service receptions.
The final tournament match of the day was against Springdale Har-Ber, a team the Lady Bulldogs had beaten at home just two days before. But the Lady Wildcats were able to turn the tables on a neutral court, winning 25-18 and 25-15. Once again, the GHS girls were beaten at the net, 23 kills to 14, with Myia McCoy and Karsen Hart leading the way with four kills each.
Har-Ber also had seven service aces to just three for Greenwood. Tori Howard led her teammates with 11 digs out of the team total of 40. Myia McCoy and Loren Eckart also had seven digs each. Remarkably, Har-Ber had 23 assists to just two for Greenwood. Howard also led the team with 21 service receptions while Carsyn Holland had seven and Lexi Wieser had six.
Fort Smith Northside
The following Monday, August 28th, the GHS girls hosted the Lady Bears in yet another non-conference match against a Class 6A foe, winning in straight sets, 25-21, 25-11, and 25-9. Northside also has a highly regarded program but was outplayed at the net by the Lady Bulldogs, who had 42 kills to just 25 for the visitors. As usual, Myia McCoy set the pace with 14 winners, followed by Keke Rice with 12 and Karsen Hart with eight kills.
The Lady Bulldogs also had nine service aces, with four players getting two aces each – Karsen Hart, Carsyn Holland, Tori Howard, and Myia McCoy. Howard and Salem Colburn had 12 digs each and Myia McCoy had 33 assists in the match. Libero Tori Howard also led the team with 13 service receptions while Carsyn Holland had eight.
Fort Smith Southside
On the final day of August, the GHS girls took the short trip to the River City, but dropped the match to the Class 6A Lady Mavericks in straight sets, 25-15, 25-20, and 25-17. The host school won at the net with 44 kills to 32 for the visitors. Myia McCoy had 18 for the Lady Bulldogs while Keke Rice had seven kills and Karsen Hart five. Loren Eckart had all four service aces for Greenwood plus 16 digs and 30 assists to lead in all three categories. Myia McCoy had three blocks with Salem Colburn credited with two blocks. Tori Howard also had 16 digs along with Eckart. McCoy added 20 service receptions while Howard had 11, Lexi Wieser eight, and Carsyn Holland and Keke rice had six each.
Russellville
When classes resumed after Labor Day, the Lady Bulldogs went to Russellville to open 5A West conference play against one of their tougher league opponents, and it showed in the results. Greenwood dropped the very competitive match in straight sets, 25-17, 25-23, and 25-22. Myia McCoy and Karsen Hart led the team in kills with 11 and 10, respectively. Five different GHS players recorded a service ace in the match and the front line combined for nine blocks. McCoy also led the team in digs with 21 while Tori Howard added 10 and Loren Eckart seven. Eckart also had 24 assists to pace her teammates. Howard led with 20 service receptions while McCoy had 15, Lexi Wieser eight, Keke Rice six, and Carsyn Holland five.
Van Buren
Two days later, the Lady Pointers of Van Buren came calling at the GHS volleyball gym and were treated to a three-game sweep by the Lady Bulldogs, 25-15, 25-14, and 25-23. Greenwood attacked the net to the tune of 29 total kills, 12 by Myia McCoy and seven each by Karsen Hart and Keke Rice. The home team had eight service aces, with two each by Loren Eckart, Tori Howard, and Karsen Hart. Rice also added three blocks at the net. Tori Howard and Myia McCoy had 11 digs each and Eckart led the team with 22 assists. Howard had 17 service receptions followed by Lexi Wieser with 10 and Myia McCoy with nine.
Harrison
This past Tuesday the Lady Bulldogs hit the road again for one of their longest trips of the season to Crooked Creek and Harrison in Boone County not far from the Arkansas-Missouri state line, and the journey was worth the effort. The GHS girls pulled off a big victory over the Lady Goblins in four sets, winning the first game in overtime, 29-27, before dropping the second set, 25-19. But the visitors rebounded to take games three and four, 25-13 and 27-25, respectively. The victory moved Greenwood’s early conference record to 2-1 with 11 more league contests to come.
Both teams were aggressive at the net with a combined 117 kill shots, 63 for Greenwood and 54 for Harrison. Myia McCoy had a big game up front with 22 kills, followed by Karsen Hart with 14 and Keke Rice with 12. Junior Ella Dickinson and Salem Colburn also had seven kills each. Four GHS players combined for five service aces in the match and McCoy had two of those. Salem Colburn had seven blocks while McCoy, Hart, and Rice had three each.
McCoy also led the squad in digs with 16 with Tori Howard close behind with 13 and Carsyn Holland with 11. Loren Eckart led her Greenwood teammates with a whopping 48 assists while four Lady Bulldogs were in double figures in service receptions. Howard led the way with 30, followed by McCoy with 15 and Lexi Wieser and Carsyn Holland with 14 each.