Greenwood picks up steam against Texarkana

JONESBORO - All Greenwood needed was a little reminder Tuesday in the opening round of the Class 6A volleyball state tournament.

Greenwood lost its first game to Texarkana, but the Lady Bulldogs bounced back to win three consecutive games as they defeated the Lady Razorbacks 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-10,25-13) at Jonesboro High School. Greenwood will face top seed Jonesboro at 6 tonight.

“We’ll take it any way we can get it,” Greenwood Coach Jennifer Golden said. “It was not our best volleyball, but it feels good to get that win and finally just kind of get in a groove.”

Greenwood, the No. 5 seed, jumped out to a 7-3 in the second match. Texarkana closed the gap to 7-5, but the Lady Bulldogs responded with a four-point run to take an 11-4 lead. Texarkana fought back to pull within 14-10, but Greenwood built its lead to 21-13 and then finished off the game by scoring the final four points.

“That’s the team that I’m looking for,” Golden said after her team came back after losing the first game. “I just said there is no tomorrow unless you want it to be. I think it was kind of eye-opening for them because they knew that but just needed to be reminded.”

Greenwood jumped ahead 7-1 in the third game before eventually stretching its lead to 12 points, 19-7. Greenwood scored six of the game’s final seven points to win 25-10.

Texarkana scored the first point in the fourth and final game, only to watch Greenwood put together a 7-1 run to take a 7-2 lead before eventually stretching it to 12-5. Greenwood extended the lead to 19-11 before finishing off a 25-13 victory.

Erin Black led Greenwood with 30 assists, while Maddie Gilliam had 13 kills to go along with her three aces. Callie Harmon led Greenwood with four aces, and Ariel Pinkston had three.

Golden said winning the first game at the state tournament is sometimes the most difficult.

“You’re in an unknown gym that we’ve never been in before, playing against a team that we haven’t seen all year,” Golden said. “It’s just settling down into your groove and playing your game that you’ve practiced all year.”

Then again, it probably won’t get any easier tonight against top-seeded Jonesboro.

“I’ve seen them play a little bit,” Golden said. “I know that they’re a very good team and we have to play our ‘A’ game. I know it’s going to be a battle on their home court.”