Anyone wanting to vouch for the intensity of volleyball in the Mid-State Conference need only direct an index finger in the direction of Tuesday’s match at Whiteland.
Greenwood was in the house, and as it turned out, not to be denied.
The Woodmen, led by the 19 kills of senior outside hitter and University of Connecticut commit Mya Ayro, gutted out a 25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 25-20 victory.
In the third and fourth sets, Greenwood (4-4, 1-1) rallied from respective deficits of 20-18 and 18-14.
“When you go into these kind of matches, you just know it’s going to be a dogfight,” first-year Woodmen coach Zach Mackie said. “I love the way these girls have responded ever since the beginning of this season. They’ve gotten better every single game.
“I love the way they are bonding and pulling together. It’s really becoming a family like we want. I’m so proud of these girls.”
The evening’s first set proved the least suspenseful, with the visitors roaring to an 18-8 advantage and then holding off a Warriors charge late.
Whiteland rallied to take the second set, the biggest lead being three points with Greenwood ahead, 20-17. The Warriors received strong serving performances from juniors Amberlee McClung and Kennedi Morrison down the stretch to square the match.
The Woodmen jumped to leads of 4-1 and 18-13 in the third, but both times the Warriors responded to pull ahead.
A kill by junior outside hitter Addie Stoll made the score 20-18. Mackie called for timeout, and his club bounced back as junior Brooklyn Bell recorded two of her five kills; junior Maria Bellapart recorded the third of her four service aces during the rally.
Greenwood found itself in a similar position in the fourth, but again dug deep.
In its 11-2 run to close out the match, Ayro produced three kills, senior setter Ella Dean chipped in a kill and an ace and both Bell and junior hitter Amy Luttrell registered kills.
Dean has been part of enough conference matches to know what was in store even before the first serve.
“I think that this really set the tone for us,” Dean said. “I feel like this season we’ve gotten a lot better, and I think Whiteland’s gotten a lot better. That was a really fun match. We were pretty evenly matched, and both teams fought really hard.
“This year, our seniors are doing a good job of taking everyone in and keeping everyone part of the program. No matter the skill level, no matter the age, everybody is fitting in well.”
Leading Whiteland (3-4, 0-1) was Morrison with eight kills and four aces. Junior Ashlyn Ricketts finished with six kills and Stoll five.
Whiteland coach Jill Cain missed the match due to illness. She was replaced by Warriors assistant Jessica Fink.
Both teams return to action on Thursday, as Greenwood travels to Indian Creek while the Warriors host New Palestine.
