The Lady Bulldogs earned their championship birth after beating Lakeside (25-13), (25-8), and (25-13) on Thursday. Their straight wins against Sheridan and Marion in early tournament games gave Greenwood the green light for undefeated 5A bracket play.
Downtown Hot Springs, Bank OZK Arena hosted the finals where many hopes, dreams, and teary eyes would be fulfilled. Would it be the Bulldogs or the Jonesboro Golden Hurricanes?
First set – (W) Greenwood: 25-18
Greenwood came out to play and dominated the tempo on both offense and defense. The energy was electric from the game floor to up in the stands as parents, and plentiful students came to cheer on the Lady Bulldogs. That same energy boosted confidence as well as settled nerves.
Second set – (W) Greenwood: 25-20
Heading into the second set, the Lady Bulldogs were calm, focused, and determined to make a sweep of this and call it a day. And they did just that. The win poised the Bulldogs for the third set.
Third set – (W) Greenwood: 25-21
NERVES of steel. That’s the defining words which illustrates this set as these ladies headed into what they hoped were their final play, to hoist the trophy on court, and bring it home.
Bring it home they did. As play commenced, a win was all they wanted. That’s all they had to do, was just win! Win together as a team as they have proved to do, and have done so well.
In the final points of the game, it was a tense environment. The thoughts of earning (not given) the 5A STATE Finals trophy was apparent, but the Bulldogs went to fight, and earn that trophy.
And, earn they did. The Lady Greenwood Bulldog Volleyball team are your 2020 5A State Champions.
