Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Key Match Starts Thursday
Greenwood’s Hit Machine
FARMINGTON — Lady Cardinal volleyball coach Marshall Ward saw improvement in several areas of play, although Farmington sustained a 25-18, 25-18 and 25-12 home loss to 6A power Greenwood Thursday.
“We were extremely scrappy. Obviously, Greenwood has a fast offense, but I feel like our defense is the fastest it’s ever been.”
On Sept. 6, Farmington lost 25-15, 25-18 and 25- 9 at Greenwood. The Lady Bulldogs’ roster features 6-feet-4 senior Madi Pfeifer while Farmington’s tallest players are 5-feet-8. Thursday, Farmington hung with Greenwood early in the first set, even taking a 9-8 lead with a 2-0 mini run on Bulldog hitting errors. Pfeifer isn’t the only hitter on the Bulldogs’ roster and sophomore Abby Cagle and junior Carrie Cielsa pounded kills putting Greenwood back in front. The pesky Lady Cardinals kept the game close with Kaylynn Bates’ kill, the first of three straight Farmington points to tie the game, at 12-12.
Camryn Journagan robbed Pfeifer of a kill with a back row dig that went over the net and hit the floor before Greenwood could react. Farmington trailed 15-13 at that juncture, then countered a 3-0 Greenwood minirun. Senior Claudia Oxford recorded two blocks within seconds, including one stop of Pfeifer that drew oohs from fans. Bates ended the exchange with a kill and Farmington closed the gap to 18-15.
“Obviously, we are not tall, but our blocking is something we’ve been working on,” Ward said. “We’re trying to throw double blocks everywhere to slow down an offense that fast.”
Greenwood closed out the first set with a 7-3 run to post a 25-18 win.
In the second set, Farmington transformed a 1- 3 deficit into a 5-3 lead. Bates’ soft cross- court kill and Callie Harper’s ace keyed the mini 4- 0 run. Ward praised the improvement, saying, “As a team we had quite a bit more aces than we had against them last time. We served strong, we attacked well. The last time we played Greenwood, we had fewer aces against them. Tonight, we had more kills. Overall, our statistics are better. Greenwood is a great team, they’ve only lost sets to 7A schools this year. They haven’t lost a set to anybody else, not 6A, not 5A, not 4A.”
“We’ve played very well at home and we’ve played very well on the road with just a couple of exceptions,” Ward said.
“We’ve been learning to hit around a big block,” Ward said. “Greenwood, they put up big blocks everywhere. The back row attack gives you a little more room to get around a block, but it’s a much harder attack. The timing has to be consistent.” FARMINGTON — Going up against the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs Sept. 6, the Farmington volleyball team found the going tough, losing 25-15, 25-18 and 25-9.
Greenwood’s roster features 6-feet-4 senior Madi Pfeifer while Farmington has no one taller than 5-feet-8. Greenwood had also played several more matches. The Sept. 6 match against Farmington was the Bulldogs’ 14th of the season compared to the fifth match for Farmington.
Fa r m ing t on coa c h Marshall Ward said Greenwood is a great team, that has only lost sets to 7A schools this year. According to Ward, Greenwood hasn’t lost a set to anybody else, not 6A, not 5A, not 4A.
“They are not just a tall team, they are also very good,” Ward said. “Greenwood was the 6A state runnerup last year. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit to see them back in the state finals this year.”
Returning to 5A West competition, Farmington defeated Clarksville in three straight sets at home Sept. 8. The Lady Cardinals won easily, 25-13, 25-10, and 25-12, to complete the sweep. With the win, Farmington secured their fourth win of the season. Sept. 15 saw the Lady Cardinals competing against 6A Russellville. Again, the Lady Cardinals played a larger school tough in one set, but couldn’t keep pace for the match, falling 25-13, 25-22 and 25-11. Farmington faced former 4A-1 rival, Berryville Sept. 19 and claimed a three-set victory, 25-22, 25-15 and 25-20. On Sept. 20, the Lady Cardinals entertained the 5A West Harrison Goblins and were swept, 25-14, 25-11, and 25-15.
Thursday Farmington hosts Alma in a key 5A West match and Ward sees an opportunity to move up in the standings. The Lady Cardinals were swept 25-22, 29-27 and 25- 15 at Alma Sept. 13. The first two sets were highly contested with only three points separating the teams in game-one and Farmington extending game-two before losing 2927.
“We have a big match against Alma Thursday night,” Ward said. “We need a big win to move from the No. 3 seed to the No. 2 seed in the district tournament.”