Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Greenwood primed to defend state volleyball title
GREENWOOD — Greenwood volleyball coach Jennifer Golden sees similarities between this year’s team and last year’s state championship squad.
The Lady Bulldogs (27-5-1) enjoy a balanced attack, like a year ago, along with great team chemistry. But this group is much younger after graduating nine seniors.
With only three seniors, they head into this week’s Class 5A state tournament with lots of momentum, having won 21 of their last 23 matches to close the regular season.
Greenwood’s only bumps in the road since a five-set loss to Fort Smith Southside on Sept. 28 was a 1-1 split with Ozark, Mo., which has five Division I players, and a 2-1 loss to Lafayette High School of Wildwood, Mo. in the Ozark (Mo.) Grand Slam tournament last weekend.
But the Lady Bulldogs fared better than last year’s group, tying for third against some of the top teams in Missouri and that has Golden excited.
“Last year, we went up there and we knew it was gonna be tough competition and we knew we had a good team, but we just got our butts kicked,” Golden said. “This year I knew that was a possibility. But the kids, they just fought for every point and that’s exciting.”
Golden, who is in her 18th season at the helm, knew no matter the outcome, the tournament would serve as a perfect tune-up for the state tournament. It served its purpose a year ago as the Lady Bulldogs went on to win the state title. She’s hoping it will work the same way this year, but with a significantly younger team.
Greenwood dominated the 5A-West Conference rolling to the league title without even dropping a set for the third consecutive season and earned a first-round bye in the state tournament to be held in Jonesboro. The Lady Bulldogs will open play in the quarterfinals against Little Rock Parkview, the No. 4 seed out of the Central at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
The trio of Abby Cagle, Zoey Benton and Camryn Presley has keyed the diverse Greenwood attack with more than 200 kills each and all bring significant state tournament experience. But Cagle, who recently verbally committed to Ouachita Baptist, is the lone senior. Junior Izzy Davis leads the defense with a team-high 427 digs.
Presley brings a vast amount of experience having started since she was a freshman, but the 6-0 junior took on the added challenge of setting some in the Lady Bulldogs’ 6-2 offense along with serving as a middle hitter.
Golden had an idea Presley might transition to setting, so she had her set some on the junior varsity team the past two years even though she was a varsity starter.
Presley has racked up impressive numbers, leading the team with 279 kills and hitting percentage (.390), along with 115 total blocks (24 solos). Toss in 397 assists with 191 digs and 26 service aces and it’s plain to see she plays a huge role in the team’s success.
She has relished the new role, despite acknowledging it comes with added pressure.
“I feel like the setter has a lot of responsibility because you’re touching the ball on almost every play,” Presley said. “I think I deal with pressure pretty well. I don’t get super stressed-out.”
That doesn’t mean it’s always been smooth sailing though, Presley said. But she’s called on her experience as a hitter to help communicate with her teammates in her new position.
“Communication is the biggest thing in volleyball,” Presley said. “I tell them ‘Tell me what you need. You won’t hurt my feelings.’ Being on the other end, I know what it’s like.”
Presley and her teammates are just hoping to be celebrating the school’s third state volleyball title at Bank of Ozarks Arena in Hot Springs on Saturday evening.