In a thrilling five-set showdown to kick off the high school volleyball season Tuesday night, Greenville High Lady Hornets edged out rival Riverside Lady Bulldogs in a match filled with high intensity and down-to-the-wire plays.
The Lady Hornets came out strong, capitalizing on early defensive errors by the Lady Bulldogs to dominate the first set. But Riverside quickly answered back in the second, riding the leadership of standout player Ashely English and strong back-to-back defensive efforts to even the match. The third set was a back-and-forth battle, with neither team leading by more than three points until Riverside pulled ahead late to take a 2–1 set lead.
With their backs against the wall, the Lady Hornets dug deep. With a series of standout defensive plays from Brianna Lance, the Lady Hornets controlled the fourth set, forcing a deciding fifth.
The final set was intense and emotional. Both teams battled at the net, but Greenville showed just enough composure down the stretch. A late timeout by Coach Bryant helped settle the team, and they closed the match 15–11 to seal the win and start the season 1–0. “Our young ladies played until the end, they never gave up, " Lady Hornets head coach Kristaira Bryant said. Coach Bryant also saw room for improvement for your squad.”We will work on judging the ball better and getting the serves across the net.”
On the opposite side, Riverside Lady Bulldogs head coach Markeia Brown said that his team suffered from loss of momentum at crucial times. “We have to get out of our own heads and just play the game.” Brown saw the brighter side of things going into the next match. Brown told the team to simply, “believe in yourselves and the rest will fall into place.”
A couple of days later, the Honeybees shutout Shaw Lady Bulldogs at the nest as they improved to a 2-0 record to start the season. Also, the Lady Bulldogs regrouped to snatch their first season win against Cleveland Central Lady Wolves in Cleveland.
