In the eyes of Greenwood’s volleyball players, one good sweep deserved another.
Fueled by memories of losing in straight sets last season at Greenwood Christian Academy, the Woodmen were determined not to let it happen again.
Greenwood, the more experienced squad this time around, cruised to a 25-15, 25-15, 25-9 at home triumph Monday night to even its season record at 1-1.
Senior middle blocker Alyssa Stilley and junior Joy Maze led the Woodmen with seven kills each. Sophomore Siena Halfaker added six in the win followed by Megan Johns with five kills and four service aces.
The 6-foot-2 Stilley, a four-year starter, said the loss a year ago to a senior-laden Cougars squad was a match she wasn’t going to forget.
“I don’t want to say revenge because that sounds like bad sportsmanship, I guess,” Stilley said. “But definitely that was one of my main things this season, to kind of retake our name after that game because I definitely felt pretty low.
“It was nice to be able to come in here and show all the hard work we’ve done over the summer.”
Starting mostly underclassmen, first-year GCA coach Kelsey Souders watched her squad hang tough in the opening set, when the teams were tied at 13-13.
It was then that Johns, a junior, served eight consecutive points. The scoring run included three aces and two of Stilley’s kills. The momentum carried over to the second and third sets, where Greenwood jumped out to a 9-1 advantage in each.
The Cougars’ last lead in the match was 10-9 in the opening set.
Greenwood Christian Academy (0-1) received four aces from junior outside hitter Jesica Miller, all consecutively early in the second setm, and two kills apiece from sophomore Izzy Reed and freshman Maggie Booher.
With the schools slightly less than two miles apart, a rivalry was inevitable in many sports. Last season’s GCA’s volleyball triumph fanned the flames.
“Just because we’re so local, I think it’s kind of for the rights of Greenwood,” said Woodmen coach Amanda Ratliff, whose squad rebounded nicely after losing its opener at home to Mount Vernon. “A lot of our girls have worked really hard in the offseason, so it’s nice to be on that end of things, to be sure.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to dominate as much. Usually we almost like sympathize with the other side and play down a lot. We’ve been working really hard to get that competitive edge, so I was proud of that.”
