Region Crowns in Boys and Girls Soccer, District Crown in Volleyball Up For Grabs on October 23
By Perry Swack
Three championships. Three schools. One night. Take your pick. With the soccer and volleyball postseasons in full force, it only makes sense that three of the season’s biggest games should all fall on one night. The 4th Region girls’ soccer finale will kick things off at 5:30 pm at Franklin-Simpson High School in a game between the Greenwood Lady Gators and the Bowling Green Lady Purples. Then at 6:00 pm the 14th District’s top two volleyball teams – South Warren and Greenwood – will get together at Warren Central High School to decide the fate of the district championship. Finally, at 7:30 pm the night’s festivities will culminate with the boys’ 4th Region title bout featuring the Bowling Green Purples and the South Warren Spartans. While 31-W (also known as Nashville Road) would certainly service a great route for any fans wishing to catch all three matches, it’s quite clear that most people will only attend one or possibly two of the three games meaning you need to know the three biggest storylines heading into the matches that will decide who comes out victorious during Championship Week.
4th Region Girls’ Soccer Championship Game – Greenwood (15-6-2) vs. Bowling Green (17-1-2)
@ Franklin-Simpson High School 5:30pm
Since 2000, each program has won seven region titles. Who wins title #15?
Since the beginning of the millennium, fourteen seasons of high school soccer have been completed. The Lady Purples took home the title in 2000, 2006-07, and 2010-13, good enough for seven region championships. The Lady Gators have seven of their own in 2001-05 and 2008-09. Bowling Green tied Greenwood with seven with the crown in 2013. Who takes home the desired fifteenth title?
- Can Greenwood solve the stingy defense of the Lady Purples?
Greenwood has scored 85 goals this season, which places them third overall in the 4th Region. The Lady Gators have scored at least five goals in seven matches, including three games with eleven or more. So why haven’t they found the back of the net against the Lady Purples this year? With six players having scored at least eight goals (led by seniors Ellie Young (17) and MacKenzie Pettus (11)), Coach Lindsey Medley hopes her club can find the back of the net in the season’s biggest game.
Will Bowling Green accomplish the Five-Peat?
Starting in 2010, the Lady Purples have won four-consecutive 4th Region soccer titles. The last team to win five-straight? The Greenwood Lady Gators from 2001-05. While none of the current GHS players were obviously apart of those talented teams, the program won’t want their archrival to accomplish such a feat against the team that accomplished it last. The five-peat factor should add some intrigue to the match.
14th District Volleyball Championship Game – South Warren (26-7) vs. Greenwood (19-14)
@ Warren Central High School 6:00 pm
Can South Warren solve the 14th District’s riddle?
The Lady Spartans were in a similar situation a year ago, when the program won the regular season 14th District title before being ousted by Bowling Green in the championship game three games to one. That team went on to reach the 4th Region championship match before bowing out to Logan County. Here they are again. Can fifth-year head coach Justin Griffin bring a district championship back to South Warren?
- Are the Lady Gators back?
The question everyone wants to know is whether or not the Greenwood Lady Gators are back? Well, we’re going to find out. Are they back to running off region title after region title and winning 100-consecutive games against district foes? I don’t think so yet and that’s no shot to the Lady Gator program. The other teams have steadily improved over the years and raised the level of talent in the area meaning it will be hard to find such a dominating stretch of volleyball from any program for some time. But here they sit in the district championship after a one-year hiatus hoping to make some noise.
- Jason Reels returns to face his former school, sort of
First-year head coach Jason Reels has led Greenwood on a journey of improvement in 2014 after finishing 2013 at 13-22. However, the coach used to line up with the black and silver. Reels led the South Warren middle school volleyball program over the last few years and it will surely be a reunion of sorts when the coach meets up with some of the players he used to lead in district championship games at a lower level.
4th Region Boys’ Soccer Championship Game – Bowling Green (17-1-1) vs. South Warren (15-6-1)
@ Bowling Green High School – 7:30 pm
- Can Bowling Green finish the deed and continue on its quest?
Coach Craig Widener’s crew is no doubt going to be a favorite to reach the state semifinals this season. Ranked second in the state and undefeated since late August, the Purples appear to be clicking on all cylinders right now. But can they finish the deed and win the region championship? All signs point to a resounding yes but we will know for sure after they kick the ball around for 80 minutes. Then we will see if the quest will continue into the state tournament.
- Will South Warren find the back of the net early and pressure the Purple defense?
In the Spartans first match against the Purples, sophomore forward Fahrudin Dervisevic scored an early goal to pressure the Bowling Green defense. However, in the recent district title match, his goal came a little too late as the Purples had already built a comfortable lead. The Spartans appear are coming off a 9-0 shutout of 15th District champion Glasgow in the 4th Region semifinals giving the club momentum heading into this match. Will an early goal happen? And if so, will they be able to continue the hot play?
Will the Purples keep pace with their girls’ soccer program?
The Lady Purples have won four-straight region titles and the Purples have won back-to-back. A win for each team would propel those numbers to five and three. But the Purples have to win theirs if they want to keep pace with their sister program. A Purples three-peat would be its first since 2007, when the club defeated Greenwood to win a third-consecutive championship dating back to 2005. An interesting mark about that three-peat? It included a state championship for Bowling Green in 2006. The 2014 bunch hopes its three-peat includes a state title as well.
