Head Coach Jennifer Golden and her Lady Bulldogs volleyball team fell just short of winning their third state championship in program history last Saturday in the Class 5A state finals. The GHS ladies made a very strong run through the playoff bracket to reach the finals against the Benton Lady Panthers, who won their second straight state title. Greenwood finished as state runners-up after dropping a close five-set match.
The Lady Bulldogs defeated Sheridan, Marion, and Mount St. Mary Academy in the first three rounds of the tournament bracket played at Searcy High School, losing just one set along the way. The 5A finals were held Saturday night at Bank OZK Arena in the Hot Springs Convention Center.
Sheridan
Oddly enough, the only set lost by Greenwood through the first three rounds of the postseason happened in the opening set against the Lady Yellowjackets last Tuesday, October 24th. Sheridan won the first set, 25-19, before the Lady Bulldogs rallied to win the next three sets, 25-23, 25-17, and 25-16, to take the match, 3-1, and move on to the quarterfinals.
Myia McCoy, Keke Rice, and Karsen Hart had a field day at the net, accumulating 52 kills between them, while the team had a total of 63 kills. McCoy led the attack with 24 slams while Rice had 16 and Hart 12. Salem Colburn also added six kills while Ella Dickinson and Loren Eckart had two slams each.
The Lady Bulldogs had a total of four service aces, two by Loren Eckart, who also led the team with an amazing 56 assists. Karsen Hart and Myia McCoy had two blocks each while Tori Howard and Lexi Wieser led in digs with 15 and 11, respectively. McCoy had nine digs while Carsyn Holland and Loren Eckart had five digs each. Tori Howard led her teammates with 28 service receptions while Myia McCoy had 24.
Marion
Greenwood’s round two opponents were the Lady Patriots of Marion who had 24 victories on the season and just six losses prior to last Wednesday’s match with the Lady Bulldogs. But the GHS ladies made a statement in the opening set, winning handily, 25-15. Marion regrouped and took Greenwood to the wire in set two before losing 25-23, then dropped the third and decisive set, 25-20.
The GHS girls won the battle at the net with 49 kills to just 34 for Marion, led by the trio of Myia McCoy, Keke Rice, and Karsen Hart with 15, 14, and 13 slams, respectively. Hart also added five blocks at the net. The team had four service aces, two of those by Myia McCoy. She also led her teammates with 16 digs, followed by Tori Howard with 12 and Lexi Wieser with 11. Carsyn Holland and Loren Eckart had seven digs each. Eckart also had 40 assists to lead the team and Howard led with 18 service receptions, followed by McCoy and Eckart with 10 each.
Mount St. Mary
Greenwood’s next playoff victory came in the semifinals last Thursday against the Belles from Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock. The Lady Bulldogs won 25-16, 26-24, and 25-18 to reach the state finals against Benton on Saturday in Hot Springs. Myia McCoy and Keke Rice led the GHS attack at the net with 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Karsen Hart had five slams and Ella Dickinson and Loren Eckart had three each.
Three Lady Bulldogs had a single service ace, while Karsen Hart had six blocks at the net to lead the team, followed by Myia McCoy with four and Ella Dickinson with three. McCoy also led in digs with 13 while Tori Howard had 10. McCoy also had 17 service receptions while Howard had 15, Carsyn Holland seven, and Lexi Wieser six.
Benton
As expected, the 5A finals were both exciting and extremely close. All five sets were decided by five points or less with Greenwood taking the opening set, 25-21. But Benton recovered and took the second set by the identical score, 25-21. The Lady Panthers also won the third set, 25-20, to put the Lady Bulldogs in a must-win situation in set four. But the GHS ladies were up to the task, evening the match at 2-2 with a tight 26-24 victory.
In the fifth and deciding set, the two teams were tied at 10-all down the stretch before Benton pulled away for the 15-11 victory. Greenwood led 8-6 and 9-7 before the Lady Panthers won the next three points to lead 10-9. The GHS girls then tied the match before Benton won five of the last six points to secure their second consecutive state title. The Lady Panthers defended the net well, including several critical blocks in the final minutes of play. They had 15 total blocks for the match, nine of them by senior Khenedi Guest alone, including the match winner.
Benton also won the offensive battle of kills at the net with 66 compared to 56 for Greenwood. The Lady Bulldogs were led by Myia McCoy with 19 slams followed by Keke Rice (16) and Karsen Hart (15). The GHS girls also had six service aces, including three by Loren Eckart and two by Tori Howard. Greenwood also played the net well defensively with 16 total blocks, led by Karsen Hart with six, Myia McCoy with five, Salem Colburn with four, and Ella Dickinson with three.
Greenwood had 77 total digs with four players reaching double figures – Howard with 19, McCoy with 18, and Lexi Wieser and Loren Eckart with 13 each. Eckart also had 49 assists to lead the team and Howard had 46 service receptions, followed by McCoy with 15, Lexi Wieser with 13, and Carsyn Holland with 10.
The Lady Bulldogs are losing seven seniors to graduation next spring, including five of the seven players who started against Benton, so this year’s sophomores and juniors will have to step up to fill those vacancies. But Coach Golden and her staff, both on the varsity and junior high levels, have always been able to bring new players along to maintain the integrity and competitive nature of the GHS program, and we expect nothing less in the future. So, congratulations to the Lady Bulldogs for another fine season in 2023!