GREENWOOD -- Erin Black and Madi Pfeifer combined for 30 kills and Greenwood had 11 aces as the Lady Bulldogs defeated Jonesboro 3-1 (25-15, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17) Wednesday in the quarterfinals at the Class 6A volleyball state tournament at H.B. Stewart Arena.
Greenwood (22-6) will face Mountain Home in the semifinals at 1 p.m. today. Mountain Home defeated Sheridan 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-18) in another quarterfinals match Wednesday.
Greenwood used seven aces in the first two games for a 2-0 lead but Jonesboro (16-14) stormed back and won the third game 25-23 to cut the Lady Bulldogs' lead to 2-1.
But Pfeifer, 6-4, Black, 6-0, and Kelsey Knox were too much for the Lady Hurricane in the fourth game as Greenwood used a 10-2 run for a 17-10 lead en route to the deciding 25-17 victory. Black led Greenwood with 18 kills, while Pfeifer finished with 12. Knox had four of her nine kills in the fourth game.
"Jonesboro is a solid team," Greenwood Coach Jennifer Golden said. "They came out and played hard and fought us. You always have a mental edge when you have a game or two on the other team. I think we just mentally lapsed in that third game.
"We refocused right before the [fourth set], and I think the girls got it in their heads it was time to take care of business."
Golden said Black and Pfeifer have been solid all season. Black also had 20 assists and one ace. Knox added three aces, while Brooke Shortes had three aces and 29 assists.
"They [Black and Pfeifer] are two of our go-to people," Golden said. "They play well, and we look to them every game. Kelsey is also a big player and we look to her a lot, too."
Jonesboro Coach Craig Cummings said Greenwood's service game was the difference. Magan Wicker had 13 kills for Jonesboro, while Kandace Pointer added 10.
"Greenwood serves really tough, and that is where it all starts," Cummings said. "We didn't handle the service game to give ourselves better attacking opportunities. We gave them a lot of free balls.
"When you do that against an offense like that and the hitters they have, you are in trouble."
Sports on 10/29/2015