After surviving and learning from their rugged early schedule, including multiple Class 6A teams, the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs have now hit their stride, winning eight of their last nine contests. Coincidentally, they also opened 5A West conference play with a 5-1 record, keeping themselves in the forefront of the race for the league title and a post-season berth. The GHS ladies will take a break from live competition until next Tuesday before they host Siloam Springs. They will also host Van Buren next Thursday as the second half of the conference race opens.

Starting with their come-from-behind five-set victory on the road at Little Rock Central on September 1st, the Lady Bulldogs won five consecutive matches, opening conference play 4-0 with victories against Van Buren, Alma, Shiloh Christian, and Mountain Home. After suffering a narrow league loss at home to Farmington on the 17th, the GHS girls won non-conference matches against Fort Smith Southside and Paris before beating Russellville in league play this past Tuesday.

Van Buren

On September 8th the Lady Bulldogs took the short trip across the Arkansas River to Van Buren for their conference opener, beating the Lady Pointers in straight sets, 25-14, 25-18, and 26-24. The visitors controlled the front line with 34 kill shots to just 23 for the home team. Riley Kaminshine, only a sophomore, led the team with 16 kills, followed by Ryleigh Smith with six slams and Rylee McAdams with five. Three others combined for seven additional kills. Riley Kaminshine also had two of Greenwood’s service aces while the front line combined for three blocks at the net.

On the back line, the GHS girls combined for 78 total digs, led by Addison Hadaway with 21 saves, Jordyn Pippin with 17, Hadley Webb with 11, while Abrey Jurecka and Riley Kaminshine with 10 digs each. Hadley Webb was the team leader with 23 assists while a quartet of players combined for 30 service returns. Hadaway, Pippin, and Jurecka had eight service returns each while Kaminshine had six.

Alma

Two days later, on the 10th, the Lady Bulldogs hosted Alma, posting another straight set victory over the Lady Airedales by scores of 25-18, 25-15, and 25-23. Once again, the GHS girls dominated the front line with 46 kills to just 27 for Alma. Greenwood’s Addi Chaplin led the way with 13 slams followed by Riley Kaminshine with nine, Anniston Kennedy and Emma Helms with seven each, while Ryleigh Smith and Rylee McAdams had five kills each. Greenwood had six total service aces, three of them by Abrey Jurecka while the team combined for four blocks at the net.

The Lady Bulldogs had 67 digs along the back line, paced by three players in double figures. Addison Hadaway led with 18 digs while Jordyn Pippin had 16 and Abrey Jurecka had 11 saves. Adeline Garner also had eight digs while five others combined for 14 saves. Addi Webb and Adeline Garner led their teammates in assists with 16 and 12, respectively. Hadaway and Pippen led the way with 21 and 17 service returns each.

Shiloh Christian

On September 14th the GHS ladies hosted the Lady Saints of Shiloh Christian, with Greenwood winning a highly competitive match in five sets, 22-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-18, and 15-11. As the scores indicate, both teams were evenly matched, and it showed in their front line play. Shiloh had 53 kill shots while Greenwood had 59, with four players reaching double figures in slams. They were Emma Helms (16), Riley Kaminshine (12), while Addi Chaplin and Rylee McAdams had 10 kills each. The team had six total blocks, three of those by Ryleigh Smith.

On the back line, Greenwood had 70 digs, keeping the ball alive for the big hitters up front. Addison Hadaway set the pace with 25 saves, followed by Abrey Jurecka with 13, Adeline Garner with eight, Addi Webb with six, Jordyn Pippin with five, and Riley Kaminshine with four. The team had 44 assists, led by Hadley Webb with 23 and Adeline Garner with 19. Addison Hadaway had 24 service returns, Jordyn Pippin had 19, while Kaminshine and Jurecka had six assists each.

Mountain Home

The next day, on September 15th, the Greenwood girls traveled to Mountain Home in Baxter County to take on the Lady Bombers. The visitors won the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-20, before dropping the third set, 22-25, then won the fourth and decisive set, 25-18, to take the match, 3-1. It was their fourth consecutive league victory to start the 2026 season.

Both squads were aggressive and effective at the net, combining for 109 kill shots, 59 by Greenwood. Emma Helms and Rylee McAdams led the Lady Bulldogs with 14 slams each, followed by Riley Kaminshine with 12, Addi Chaplin with nine, and Anniston Kennedy with six. Abrey Jurecka had half (3) of Greenwood’s six service aces while Rylee McAdams had four blocks at the net.

Addison Hadaway led the team in digs with 22, more than half of Greenwood’s total of 41. Abrey Jurecka had nine saves while three others had three digs each. Hadley Webb and Adeline Garner led the team in assists with 25 and 22, respectively. Hadaway paced Greenwood with 33 service returns while Jordyn Pippin had 15 and Abrey Jurecka had 11.

Farmington

The Lady Bulldogs finally stumbled in conference play at home against the invading Lady Cardinals of Farmington, currently ranked #1 in Class 5A and #3 overall in the state of Arkansas. Yet Greenwood rallied after dropping the first two sets to win sets three and four before losing 15-10 in the decisive fifth set. The visitors won 25-19 and 25-15 before the home team captured sets three and four, 25-22 and 28-26, to prolong the match. The two teams will play once more in the regular season at Farmington on October 13, a match that could determine the conference champion and which team gets the #1 seed from the 5A West. Both squads have established themselves as contenders for the 5A state title.

Somehow, the Lady Bulldogs survived a vicious attacking front line by the Lady Cardinals, who had 77 kill shots in the match. Greenwood had 48 slams, led by Emma Helms with 16 and Riley Kaminshine with 13. Neither team had much success with service aces, but Greenwood was effective defensively at the net with 11 blocks to just four for Farmington.

On the back line, Greenwood had an incredible 86 digs to keep the ball alive and the action going, led by Addison Hadaway with 36, followed by Abrey Jurecka with 12, Jordyn Pippin with 11, Hadley Webb with 10, and Adeline Garner with eight. Webb also led the team in assists with 18 while Garner had seven. Hadaway paced her teammates with 42 service returns while Jurecka had 17 and Pippin had 16.

Southside

Last Saturday, September 19th, the Lady Bulldogs hosted a mini tournament inviting Fort Smith Southside and Paris high schools to participate. In an extremely close match, the Lady Bulldogs won a 4-set thriller over the Lady Mavericks. Southside won the opening set, 25-22, before Greenwood won the next three sets, 25-22, 25-23, and 25-15.

Both squads battled hard at the net with the Lady Mavs getting credit for 48 kill shots while the host Lady Bulldogs had 52, with a trio of players accounting for over 70% of that total. Riley Kaminshine had 15 kills, Emma Helms had 12 slams, and Rylee McAdams 11. The GHS girls also had eight service aces, led by Addison Hadaway with three and Rylee McAdams with two. Emma Helms had half of Greenwood’s four blocks at the net.

The Greenwood back line was very busy as well with 86 digs, led by Hadaway with 28, Jordyn Pippin with 22, and Abrey Jurecka with 10. Hadley Webb also had eight digs and led the team in assists with 26 while Adeline Garner had 10 assists. Finally, Addison Hadaway led her teammates with 22 service returns followed by Jordyn Pippin with 17 and Abrey Jurecka with 13.

Paris

Later that same day the Lady Bulldogs dominated the Lady Eagles of Paris in straight sets, winning 25-17, 25-14, and 25-12. The home team had 40 kill shots at the net, led by Rylee McAdams with 15 slams. Emma Helms and Riley Kaminshine had eight kills each while Anniston Kennedy had four slams. Greenwood also had eight service aces led by Addi Webb (3) and Rylee McAdams (2).

The GHS back line was fairly muted during the match with only 25 combined digs, with no player getting more than seven. That player was Addison Hadaway followed by Jordyn Pippin with five saves, Abrey Jurecka with four, while Addi Webb and Emma Helms had three digs each. Webb also led the team in assists with 22, far surpassing any other teammates. Hadaway and Jurecka both had 12 service returns for Greenwood.

Russellville

This past Tuesday the GHS ladies returned to conference play against the Lady Cyclones of Russellville, winning in four sets, 25-12, 27-29, 25-13, and 25-19. The victory pushed Greenwood’s mark in the 5A West to 5-1. Greenwood controlled the front line with 56 kill shots at the net, led by Riley Kaminshine with an amazing 20 slams. Rylee McAdams add 15 kills followed by Addi Chaplin (7), Emma Helms (6), and Anniston Kennedy (5). Rylee McAdams led the team with four service returns while the Lady Bulldogs combined for nine total blocks in the match, led by Ryleigh Smith with five blocks, including two solo blocks and three blocking assists.

On the back line Greenwood had 58 total digs, led by Addison Hadaway with 20, the only player in double figures. Addi Webb had nine digs, Adeline Garner had seven, Abrey Jurecka six, Jordyn Pippin five, and Riley Kaminshine five. Webb was the team leader in assists with 36, far ahead of teammate Adeline Garner with 11 assists. Addison Hadaway led her fellow Lady Bulldogs in service returns with 42, followed by Abrey Jurecka with 16 and Jordyn Pippin with 10 returns.