The GHS girls varsity volleyball team is steamrolling its way through the competition in 5A West conference play this season, still unbeaten in a dozen matches with two remaining to play this week before concluding the league schedule and preparing for the post-season. Along with her players and staff, Head Coach Jennifer Golden has done another stellar job in her 22nd year at the helm. The Lady Bulldogs will host Alma on Tuesday this week before traveling to Greenbrier on Thursday.
Mountain Home
After opening league play 4-0 with convincing wins over Russellville, Van Buren, Harrison, and Siloam Springs the first two weeks of September, the GHS girls made it five straight conference wins on the 20th against Mountain Home. They won the home match in four sets (3-1) by scores of 25-10, 24-26, 25-23, and 25-22. After getting blitzed in the opening set, the Lady Bombers came back to make the final three sets very competitive.
Myia McCoy led Greenwood with 16 kill shots, while Landis Luke had nine, Lane Presley six, and Anna Forbus five. The Lady Bulldogs had 12 aces in the match, including four by Presley and three by Rylie Holland. Presley and McCoy had four and three blocks, respectively. Greenwood also had 65 digs in the match, led by Tori Howard’s 14 and Ashlyn Butler’s 11. Rylie Holland and Lillyanna Gigerich also had eight digs each. Holland added 27 assists to lead the team while Butler had 12. Howard and Gigerich had 20 and 13 service receptions, respectively.
Alma
Two days later on September 22nd the Lady Bulldogs traveled to nearby Crawford County to take on longtime rival Alma, winning a tough fought five-set match, 3-2. The Airedalettes stunned the GHS girls by taking the opening set, 25-23, but Greenwood quickly rallied to win the next two sets handily, 25-15 and 25-9. Then the momentum swung again, and the home team won the fourth set, 25-21, to force a decisive fifth set, won by the visitors in overtime, 18-16.
Statistically, the Lady Bulldogs were led by a pair of attackers, Myia McCoy and Landis Luke, with 14 kill shots each. Keara Rice wasn’t far behind with 10 slams of her own. Greenwood had 12 service aces in the match spread among several players, but Tori Howard led with three. Landis Luke had four blocks while Howard led the team with an incredible 40 digs. Riley Golden had 14 digs, Rylie Holland 13, and Lillyanna Gigerich 12 digs. Ashlyn Butler led her teammates in assists with 22, followed close behind by Rylie Holland’s 21. Tori Howard led in service receptions with 19, followed by Gigerich with 16 and Golden with 10.
Non-conference games
The GHS girls hosted a mini tournament on Saturday the 24th, inviting the Paris Lady Eagles and Little Rock’s Baptist Prep to visit South Sebastian Country for some weekend volleyball. Greenwood won both matches, but the Paris girls gave the Lady Bulldogs a run for their money in the opener, making four of the five sets competitive.
Unexpectedly, the Greenwood ladies dropped the first two sets by identical scores of 22-25, but rallied to dominate the third set, 25-9, before winning the fourth set, 25-21. The fifth set was also close, but the Lady Bulldogs completed their comeback with a 15-12 winning score to take the match, 3-2.
Offensively, Myia McCoy had 16 kill shots and Landis Luke 10. Tori Howard and Ashlyn Butler had four service aces each, while Luke had six blocks and teammates Lane Presley and Myia McCoy had five blocks each. Howard led the team in digs with 15 while McCoy and Butler had nine each and Presley eight. Ashlyn Butler had 19 assists while Rylie Holland added 15. McCoy led the squad in service receptions with 18, followed by Howard with 11.
But it was a much different story against Baptist Prep as Greenwood rolled to a three-set victory, 25-18, 25-18, and 25-22, though the match was competitive from start to finish. It was only the fourth loss of the season for the Baptist Prep girls against 21 wins at the time.
The box score had Myia McCoy with 11 kill shots, while Landis Luke added nine. McCoy also recorded four service aces to lead the team. Tori Howard set the pace with 14 digs, just ahead of McCoy’s 11 and Ashlyn Butler’s nine. Rylie Holland had 22 assists for the match while Butler added 12. McCoy and Howard led in service receptions with 18 and 11, respectively.
Greenbrier
On Tuesday, September 27th, the Lady Bulldogs returned to conference action at home against the Lady Panthers, one of the better teams in the league, and the hometown girls pushed the GHS girls to the limit in a five-set match. Greenwood won the first two sets, 25-17 and 25-23, and seemed poised to sweep the match in three sets. But the Lady Panthers rallied to win sets three (25-21) and four (25-19) to knot the match at 2-2 before Greenwood won the decisive fifth set in a squeaker, 15-13.
Myia McCoy was magnificent at the net with 22 kill shots, followed by Landis Luke with 15 and Keara Rice with 11. Carsyn Holland had four service aces for Greenwood while Tori Howard led with 27 digs. Rylie Holland had 14 saves and Ashlyn Butler had 12 digs. The same two players led the team in assists. Butler had 33 and Holland 26. Tori Howard had 30 service receptions, Carsyn Holland 19, and Myia McCoy 12.
Russellville
The next five conference victories were mostly lopsided wins as Greenwood pushed its league mark to a perfect 12-0. Up next were the Lady Cyclones at Russellville on the last Thursday in September, the 29th. The Lady Bulldogs survived a first set scare, winning 25-23, then dominated the second and third sets, 25-13 and 25-10, respectively.
As usual, junior Myia McCoy did a lot of the heavy lifting offensively with 18 kill shots in the match, followed by Lane Presley with eight while Keara Rice and Landis Luke had seven slams each. Three players reached double figures in digs, including Tori Howard with 16, Carsyn Holland with 12, and Rylie Holland with 11. Myia McCoy had nine digs. Ashlyn Butler had 22 assists and Rylie Holland had 15. Tori Howard handled 16 service receptions.
Van Buren
The first Tuesday in October found the Lady Bulldogs at home against the Lady Pointers, an encounter that left the GHS girls with a three-set sweep, winning 25-19, 25-21, and 25-17. It was Greenwood’s ninth consecutive conference victory and their second of the season over the Van Buren girls, who won only one of seven sets against the Lady Bulldogs.
Myia McCoy had 17 kill shots in the latest match, followed by Landis Luke (7), Anna Forbus (6), and Keara Rice (5). Carsyn Holland added three service aces while Lane Presley had nine blocks and Myia McCoy six blocks. As a team the Lady Bulldogs had 30 digs, but no player in double figures. Tori Howard had seven saves, Carsyn Holland six, and McCoy five digs. Rylie Holland had 16 assists and Ashlyn Butler had 14. Howard also led her teammates in service receptions with 19 while Carsyn Holland had 10.
Harrison
On October 6th the GHS varsity girls made the long trek to Harrison to take on the Lady Goblins, winning in four sets. Harrison took the opening round in overtime, 28-26, before the Lady Bulldogs rallied to take the next three sets, 25-15, 25-19, and 25-22 to win the match and remain unbeaten in league play.
Myia McCoy led the team offensively with 12 kill shots, while Keara Rice and Lane Presley had eight kills each. Landis Luke added seven slams in the victory. Ashlyn Butler added three service aces while Presley and Tori Howard had two each. Luke and Presley had five blocks each and Rice had four. Carsyn Holland led defensively with 12 digs while Howard had nine, Butler seven, and Lilly Williams seven. Lillyanna Gigerich added six digs. Rylie Holland had 19 assists followed by Ashlyn Butler with 16. Carsyn Holland had 21 service receptions, Tori Howard 13, and Keara Rice 10.
Siloam Springs
The following Tuesday, October 11th, Greenwood hosted Siloam Springs for a straight set victory, 3-0. The Lady Bulldogs seized control of the match early with two dominate performances in sets one and two, winning 25-11 and 25-9. The Lady Panthers regrouped and made it more competitive in the third set, but still fell, 25-20.
Statistically, Greenwood’s top offensive player was Myia McCoy with 14 kill shots at the net, the only GHS player to reach double figures. Landis Luke added six kills and Lilly Williams five. Riley Golden had two service aces and Luke had seven blocks to lead the team. Five players had at least three digs, including Myia McCoy, Lane Presley, and Ashlyn Butler with four each, while Rylie Holland and Lillyanna Gigerich had three each. Butler led in assists with 12 while Rylie Holland had 10. Junior Salem Colburn led in service receptions with 13.
Mountain Home
Last Thursday, October 13th, the GHS girls made yet another long road trip to Baxter County to take on the Lady Bombers of Mountain Home, winning the match (3-0) in straight sets, 26-24, 25-22, and 25-12. In their two matches this season, the Lady Bulldogs lost only one set to the Mountain Home girls. The latest victory pushed Greenwood’s league mark to 12-0.
Six players had at least four kills in the match, led by Myia McCoy with 16. Keara Rice had nine kills and Landis Luke six, followed by Ella Dickinson, Lilly Williams, and Lane Presley with four each. Landis Luke had five blocks. Tori Howard had the team’s only service ace and led her teammates in digs with 21. Ashlyn Butler had 19 assists and Rylie Holland 17. Tori Howard handled 19 service receptions followed by Carsyn Holland and Lillyanna Gigerich with 11 each.
Ozark, Missouri
Coach Golden and her staff took their players to Ozark, Missouri, last Saturday for a late season tournament featuring several excellent teams from the Show Me State. The tournament format limited each match to a best 2-of-3 scenario that did not sit well with the Lady Bulldogs, who lost four straight matches after winning their opener against Logan-Rogersville (MO), in a very competitive three-set match. The GHS girls won the opening set in overtime, 29-27, before losing set #2 by a score of 22-25. They then closed out the match with a third set victory, 25-19.
Myia McCoy had 12 kills to lead the team offensively with Keara Rice earning nine slams. Rylie Holland had half-a-dozen service aces and Landis Luke had four blocks. Carsyn Holland led the team with a dozen digs, while Tori Howard and Myia McCoy had nine each. Ashlyn Butler had 15 assists and Rylie Holland had 11. Myia McCoy had 15 service receptions and Carsyn Holland had 14, while Tori Howard had 12 and Lillyanna Gigerich had 10.
The Lady Bulldogs then lost in straight sets (2-0) to both St. Francis Borgia of Washington, MO, and Nixa, MO. They also fell to Eldon, MO, in three sets (2-1) and to Park Hill South of Riverside, MO, (2-0). However, they did close out their tournament experience with a victory over St. Peters (MO) Lutheran, 2-1. Greenwood won the opening set (25-14), then lost the second (15-25), before winning the decisive third set (25-23).
Landis Luke and Myia McCoy each had 10 kill shots, followed by Keara Rice and Lilly Williams with six slams each. Rylie Holland had four service aces while Carsyn Holland (18) and Myia McCoy (13) led the team in digs. Ashlyn Butler had 22 assists while Rylie Holland had 10. Carsyn Holland handled 21 service receptions and Myia McCoy had 12.