Greenwood won 3-0 over Warren East on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017, at Greenwood. (Austin Anthony / photo@bgdailynews.com)

Greenwood’s volleyball team has a question it’ll ask itself all season: How bad do you want it?

There was no questioning that effort Thursday night in the District 14 opener.

Greenwood never let off the gas in a convincing 3-0 (25-8, 25-12, 25-7) win over Warren East at Greenwood High School. The Lady Gators (2-0 overall, 1-0 District 14) haven’t dropped a set this year as they begin their Region 4 title defense campaign.

“I feel like we’re really strong,” Greenwood senior Jonae’a Blissett said. “Our communication is there, our height is there, energy and everything else is just on point. Our quote for this year is ‘How bad do you want it?.’ That’s what we do. We take it out there and we want to win.”

Ranked No. 8 in the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll, Greenwood boasts an experienced group of six seniors and four juniors who helped last year’s team reach the state quarterfinals.

With that postseason taste still fresh, those 10 upperclassmen provide experience coach Jason Reels said is unlike anything they’ve had recently.

“We’ve got more seniors than we’ve ever had and more juniors than we’ve ever had on our varsity,” Reels said. “This really gives us experience and as a coach, you have a good feeling that you can go out there and that you know the players know exactly where to be.”

That was never more evident Thursday night against a young Warren East squad.

Greenwood surged to an 8-0 lead in the first set with three early kills from Blissett. While timing and communication were on point for the Lady Gators, the same couldn’t be said for Warren East (1-1).

Although the Lady Raiders return six seniors from a team that won 24 games last year, coach Gary Bloyd said it might take half the season for a team of new varsity players to nail down comfortable communication.

“Once we get these girls comfortable playing and learning how to read the seams in the block, they’ll come along,” Bloyd said. “We are learning and we have a long way to go with them. It’s going to take time.”

After the Lady Gators won the first set 25-8, Warren East took the first point before Greenwood pulled away again. Junior outside hitter Emmie Bender recorded four kills in the second set. A kill from Hallie Willis put Warren East in double digits for the first time at 21-10 before Greenwood won the set 25-12 for a 2-0 match lead.

Greenwood cruised to a 12-1 lead in the final set with five aces coming during an eight-serve span. Senior Alexa Davis had six of her team-high 11 kills in the third and the Lady Gators ran away with the 25-7 set win for the sweep.

Blissett and Bender each finished with seven kills and Anne Lasley had five. Greenwood finished with 16 aces.

The dominant win follows up a tighter win at Edmonson County where Greenwood won two sets 25-20 and 25-15.

“We talked about it following the Edmonson County game and trying to play to our level every time out and making sure we’re matching our expectations and not worrying about the team across the net,” Reels said. “Do what we need to do in order to win matches and play at a high level. I was really proud of the way we served and the way our offense ran today. Defensively, we’re in the right spots and its things that we’ve worked on since our first match to try and improve.”{&end}