GREENWOOD -- There was only one loud groan from the home crowd Thursday when Greenwood was on the floor.
It came shortly after the game when a sizable group in the Greenwood student section was told to return to class. Otherwise, it was smiles all around as Greenwood swept Mountain Home 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-15) in the semifinals of the Class 6A volleyball state tournament at H.B. Stewart Arena.
Greenwood (23-6) advances to Saturday's state title in Hot Springs against Marion, which swept Russellville 3-0 in the other semifinal Thursday.
Maddi Pfeifer had 10 kills and Erin Black nine for the Lady Bulldogs, who won a state championship in 2011. Greenwood reached the final again in 2012 but lost to Russellville, the defending state champions in Class 6A.
Greenwood Coach Jennifer Golden said she was confident from the outset she had a team with the potential to play for a state championship.
"We knew we had a special group in July when we went to a team camp at Missouri State," Golden said. "We started off right there saying we can do this, and we worked on it from then."
Greenwood took control from the outset when Brooke Shortes had an ace on the first serve. Greenwood built its lead to 7-1 and 15-4 before Mountain Home (22-10) called its second timeout. The brief stoppage didn't slow the Lady Bulldogs, who won 25-14.
"You could see the focus in the girls' eyes. They were absolutely ready," Golden said. "I don't think we could have played any better."
Mountain Home, which didn't score consecutive points in the opener until halfway through the match, kept it closer in the second set. The Lady Bombers closed to within 16-12 before Pfeifer scored for Greenwood with a kill just inside the back line.
Mountain Home made one last push before Greenwood pulled away again to take a 2-0 series lead.
"You have to credit Greenwood because they have a phenomenal team," Mountain Home Coach Lindsey Leonard said. "We were nervous playing in front of Greenwood's crowd, but we played to the last point."
Mountain Home showed its fighting spirit late in the third set when Greenwood needed three tries at match point to win the game.
MARION 3, RUSSELLVILLE 0
Marion swept defending state champion Russellville 27-25, 25-17, 26-24 in a rematch of last year's title game.
Sarah Betts had 13 kills for Marion (31-4). She ended the set with a kill after Russellville rallied from a 23-17 deficit to take a 25-24 lead. Marion won the second set 25-17 to take a 2-0 series lead.
The third match was tied 24-24, but Marion won it 26-24 after it was awarded a point because of an illegal substitution by Russellville.
Sports on 10/30/2015