It’s been a long haul, but the regular season is now over for the Lady Bulldogs’ volleyball team. The GHS girls finished second in the 5A West conference race and will face Sheridan as the #3 seed from the 5A South at Searcy next Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the opening round of the state tournament. The Harrison Lady Goblins won the top seed in the West, with Greenwood second, Russellville third, and Siloam Springs fourth.

Head Coach Jennifer Golden, her staff and players are hoping to make a deep run this postseason after bowing out in the second-round last year. Greenwood finished the 2023 regular season at 20-10 and 11-3 in league play. The Lady Bulldogs have also been busy over the past three weeks, playing 12 matches, facing six conference opponents and six non-conference foes in tournament play.

Van Buren

The GHS ladies started their month on Tuesday, October 3rd at Van Buren with a three-set victory, winning 25-17, 25-16, and 25-22. Greenwood dominated the front line with 53 kills, led by a trio of players with double-digit slams. Myia McCoy set the pace with 19 kills, followed by Ella Dickinson with 12 and Karsen Hart with 11. Keke Rice also had six kill shots. McCoy also had a pair of service aces and four blocks.

Tori Howard patrolled the back row with 16 digs while Myia McCoy had 15 and Carsyn Holland had nine. Loren Eckart continued to do her job well as the team’s top setter with 38 assists. Tori Howard also led the team in service receptions with 14 while McCoy had 11 and Lexi Wieser had eight.

Harrison

One of their biggest matches of the season took place at Greenwood two days later on October 5th against the visiting Lady Goblins of Harrison. A GHS win might well have secured the league’s top spot heading into the playoffs, but the Lady Bulldogs fell in four very competitive sets, winning 25-18 before dropping the last three sets, 19-25, 19-25, and 22-25. The loss dropped the Greenwood girls into a first place tie with Harrison.

Both squads were active at the net with Harrison winning the battle of kills, 54-52. Keke Rice and Myia McCoy tied for the GHS lead in slams with 15 each. Karsen Hart had nine and Loren Eckart had five kills. Hart, MyCoy, and Eckart all had two service aces each. Karsen Hart had six blocks at the net to lead the team.

Myia McCoy paced the home team with 21 digs, followed by Tori Howard with 18, the only two Lady Bulldogs in double figures. But Loren Eckart (8 digs), Carsyn Holland (7 digs), and Lexi Wieser (6 digs) also contributed on defense. Loren Eckart had 37 assists and four Lady Bulldogs reached double digits in service receptions, including Tori Howard with 29, Myia McCoy with 21, Lexi Wieser with 17, and Carsyn Holland with 10.

Siloam Springs

Five days after their loss to Harrison, the GHS girls traveled north to Benton County to face the Lady Panthers of Siloam Springs and were dealt another tough loss in four sets. The home team won the first set, 25-15, before the visitors returned the favor in the second set, winning 25-23. But the Lady Panthers rallied to take the last two sets, 25-16 and 25-22.

The Lady Bulldogs had 30 kills at the net, led by Myia McCoy with 16. Karsen Hart and Keke Rice had five kills each and Salem Colburn had four slams. Loren Eckart and Rylee Daniel had two service aces apiece, while Eckart led the team with five blocks. Tori Howard had 18 digs, Myia McCoy 11 digs, Loren Eckart nine digs, and Lexi Wieser eight digs. Loren Eckart had 20 assists and Rylee Daniel had seven. Three GHS players topped the list for service receptions, led by Tori Howard with 22 and Myia McCoy and Lexi Wieser with 18 each.

Mountain Home

On Thursday, October 12th, the GHS girls hosted the Lady Bombers of Mountain Home and survived a tough five-set match, winning 3-2. Greenwood opened by winning the first two sets, 25-15 and 25-20, before dropping the next two sets, 21-25 and 23-25, leaving the match knotted at 2-2. But the Lady Bulldogs won the fifth and deciding set, 15-9, to take the match.

Greenwood attacked the net with vigor, recording 68 kill shots, led by Myia McCoy with an amazing 27 slams. Karsen Hart had 14 kills and Keke Rice 12.  Ella Dickinson added seven kills and Salem Colburn six. McCoy, Lexi Wieser, and Tori Howard had the only services aces for Greenwood. Karsen Hart had five blocks and Salem Colburn four.

Tori Howard led the squad with 25 digs, followed by Lexi Wieser with 16, Myia McCoy with 14, Carsyn Holland with 10, and Loren Eckart with nine. Tori Howard had three assists and also led in service receptions with 28. Myia McCoy had 22 service receptions while Carsyn Holland had 13 and Lexi Wieser had 12.

Tournament play

Last weekend, October 13-14, the Lady Bulldogs competed in tournament play at Ozark, Missouri, winning four of six abbreviated matches. All six opponents were from the Show Me State including schools from Eureka, Springfield, St. Peters, Rogersville, Riverside, and Washington, Missouri. Most of the GHS matches lasted just two sets.

Greenwood’s first opponent on Friday the 13th was Eureka, and the Lady Wildcats won both sets, 21-25, 21-25. Myia McCoy led the team with 14 kills, while Keke Rice had eight. Four players had three blocks each, Karsen Hart, Ella Dickinson, Salem Colburn, and Myia McCoy. Tori Howard had 14 digs, Loren Eckart 13, Lexi Wieser eight, McCoy six, and Carsyn Holland five.

Koren Eckart led the team with 21 assists and Lexi Wieser paced her teammates with 14 service receptions. Tori Howard had 12, Keke Rice seven, Myia McCoy five, and Carsyn Holland four. Up next for the Lady Bulldogs that Friday night was Central High School from Springfield, Missouri.

The match was a battle of the Bulldogs, with both schools sporting the same mascot, but the Arkansas ladies took the match in convincing fashion in straight sets, 25-11 and 25-14. Greenwood had 22 kills, led by Miya McCoy with nine and several other players with two or three slams each. Karsen Hart had three service aces and Loren Eckart had two. Salem Colburn had three blocks and Myia McCoy two.

Tori Howard had six digs to lead the squad, followed by Myia McCoy and Lexi Wieser with four each, while Carsyn Holland had three digs. Loren Eckart had 11 assists and Tori Howard had eight service receptions. Kyla Pearcy added four service receptions and Myia McCoy had three.

On Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs won three of their four matches, starting with an 0-2 loss to Lutheran High School from St. Peters, Missouri, near St. Louis. Greenwood lost to the Lady Cougars, 17-25 and 23-25. The GHS ladies had 24 total kills led by Myia McCoy with 10, Keke Rice with six, and Karsen Hart with five. The team had only two service aces and five total blocks.

Five GHS players had at least three digs, including Myia McCoy and Loren Eckart with seven each, Lexi Wieser with five, Carsyn Holland with four, and Tori Howard with three digs. Loren Eckart had 16 assists to lead her teammates and Lexi Wieser led in service receptions with 15. Tori Howard and Myia McCoy also had seven service receptions each.

Game two last Saturday was a 2-1 GHS victory over Logan High School from Rogersville, Missouri, a small town located in the southern part of the state. The Lady Wildcats won the second set, 25-15, to tie the match, forcing a third set. Greenwood won the first and third sets, 25-15 and 25-16, respectively. Both teams had 30 kill shots with Myia McCoy at the top of the heap for Greenwood with 10 slams. Keke Rice had eight, Karsen Hart Six, and Ella Dickinson five.

Loren Eckart led the team with three service aces while Karsen Hart had two aces and three blocks. Lexi Wieser set the pace with 15 digs on defense, followed by Myia McCoy and Loren Eckart with seven each. Tori Howard also had six digs while Eckart led her teammates with 24 assists. Myia McCoy led with 16 service receptions while Lexi Wieser had 11, Carsyn Holland eight and Tori Howard seven.

Up next for the GHS ladies were the Lady Panthers of Park Hill South High School in Riverside, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. Greenwood won the match in straight sets, 25-19 and 25-16. The Lady Bulldogs had a slight advantage at the net with 25 kills to 17 for Riverside. Karsen Hart and Myia McCoy shared top billing with seven slams each, followed by Salem Colburn with five and Keke Rice with four. Five different players had a single service ace for Greenwood, while Karsen Hart and Myia McCoy had two blocks each.

Tori Howard led the team with 12 digs, while Myia McCoy had eight, Lexi Wieser seven, and Loren Eckart five. Eckart also led the team with 21 assists. Tori Howard was steady with 11 service receptions while Myia McCoy had seven, Lexi Wieser five, and Carsyn Holland four. The final match of the day for Greenwood was against St. Francis Borgia from Washington, Missouri, a town about 50 miles west of St. Louis.

The GHS girls won the match in three sets, taking the first set, 25-15, before dropping the second set, 11-25. The Lady Bulldogs then finished their long day of volleyball with a 25-21 victory in the decisive third set. Myia McCoy led the team in kills, notching 15 of the team’s total of 29. Keke Rice had six slams and Karsen Hart had four. The team had just three service aces.

At the net, Salem Colburn had four blocks for Greenwood, while McCoy and Loren Eckart had two each. Lexi Wieser led her teammates with 11 digs, followed by Carsyn Holland with eight, Loren Eckart with seven, and McCoy and Tori Howard with four digs each. Eckart paced the Lady Bulldogs in assists with 19 while Lexi Wieser led in service receptions with 17, followed by Myia McCoy with 13.

Alma

This past Tuesday evening the GHS ladies took the short drive across the Arkansas river and down I-40 to Alma, earning a three-set victory over the Lady Airedales, 26-24, 25-10, and 25-14. The win was Greenwood’s 11th conference victory of the season with one match remaining at home against Greenbrier on Thursday.

Karsen Hart and Keke Rice shared the lead in kill shots with a dozen each, while Loren Eckart paced the squad with five service aces, half of the GHS total of 10 for the match. Salem Colburn had three blocks while Karsen Hart and Ella Dickinson had two each. Nine different players had at least one dig in the match, led by Tori Howard with 15, Loren Eckart with eight and Lexi Wieser with seven. Eckart had 29 assists and two players, Wieser and Howard, had 11 service receptions.

Greenbrier

With the playoffs staring them in the face next week, the GHS ladies took care of business last Thursday night, sweeping the Greenbrier Lady Panthers in straight sets, 25-14, 25-15, 25-12, to close out their regular season schedule. Harrison also won its season finale over Siloam Springs to secure first place in the conference standings.

Keke Rice led her teammates at the net with 11 kill shots, following by Myia McCoy and Karsen Hart with eight kills each. Ella Dickinson added five slams and Salem Colburn four. Loren Eckart led the team with four service aces while Karsen Hart added five blocks. Myia McCoy and Tori Howard had 12 digs each on defense while Lexi Wieser had nine saves and Loren Eckart had seven. Eckart also led the team with 30 assists. Carsyn Holland led her teammates in service receptions with nine while Howard had eight, McCoy seven, Wieser six, and Rice five.

Golden thoughts

Head Coach Jennifer Golden is taking her team back to the state playoffs for the umpteenth time in the 2000s in pursuit of another championship. And while she and her staff and players were disappointed in their back-to-back losses to Harrison and Siloam Springs that knocked them out of first place in the league race, the longtime GHS head coach knows all that will be forgotten should the Lady Bulldogs make a strong run in the playoffs next week.

A win in Tuesday’s opener against Sheridan would pit Greenwood against the Marion-Sylvan Hills winner on Wednesday at 2 p.m. with the semi-finals set for Thursday at 1 p.m. The state finals will be held next Saturday in Hot Springs at 7 p.m. The Lady Bulldogs have reserved lodging and will remain in Searcy as long as needed to limit their travel and fatigue.

Golden talked about her team’s season and their chances at state. “Harrison has a great team,” said the coach, paying homage to the league winner. “Both teams played tough, but it wasn’t our best game. As our conference [continues] to improve it’s going to be more of a battle every year, and that will raise everybody up and make [us all] play better. This was not our year to win conference, and that’s okay because we still have the opportunity to go to state.

“We’re really excited,” she continued. “We’re into the fun part of our season. We’ll do a lot of teambuilder this weekend. There’s lots of tradition involved in getting ready for state and winning state, and the girls are really looking forward to that. We’ll stay there Tuesday night and as long as we continue to win.”