Ten games into the high school volleyball season, Greenwood seems to already be in postseason form.
The Lady Gators controlled the nets from the first serve on Thursday evening as they knocked off previously undefeated South Warren in straight sets, 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-16), in a rematch of last season’s 14th District championship match (won by Greenwood) and 4th Region championship match (won by South Warren).
The dynamic duo of senior Emmie Bender and sophomore Katie Howard powered the Lady Gator offense, who had an answer to everything the Lady Spartans (9-1) threw at them. The pair picked up 17 and 14 kills, respectively, Bender firing behind a .438 hitting percentage.
Greenwood opened the first set with a 20-13 lead, but South Warren countered with a 7-1 run to pull back within 21-19. However, the Lady Gators quickly closed the gap out of a timeout to take the first set, 25-21.
The second set saw the Lady Spartans trail only 17-14, but Greenwood (10-1) used an 8-2 run to take the second set, 25-16, and to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The two teams were knotted at 4-4 to start off the third set, but the Lady Gators slowly pulled away to take the third set, 25-16, for the match sweep.
Defensively, Anna Hewitt picked up 16 digs for the Lady Gators while Howard added eight digs. Senior setter Julie Kennedy set up 38 assists for Greenwood.
Erin Nerland led South Warren on offense with 13 kills on a .345 hitting clip while Sydney Clayton racked up 30 assists.
Greenwood will be on the road to play an undetermined team (per KHSAA.com) on Friday evening in the Crossroads Classic at Effingham, IL. South Warren hosts Warren East on Tuesday, Sept. 11, for their next contest.
Clay Manlove; @ctmanlove58
