The Greenwood volleyball team is back on top in District 14 after beating South Warren 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 26-24, 25-15) in the District 14 championship game Thursday at South Warren High School.

Greenwood (31-2) overcame a hot start by the Spartans to complete a season sweep of district opponents, claiming the first District 14 tournament title since 2012.

“We wanted this so bad,” Greenwood senior hitter Jonae’a Blissett said. “We’ve wanted this so bad. It’s been so long since we won district. To finally get this, especially my senior year, I feel so excited. I’m so proud of my team.”

The Lady Gators lost one game to district opponents all season entering Thursday’s championship game, but South Warren (18-19) was able to double that with a strong game one.

Game one featured 12 ties and seven lead changes before South Warren closed it out with a kill from Hannah Yonts.

“We knew the first set that South Warren was going to come out and give us their best game,” Greenwood coach Jason Reels said. “They are playing at home, district title on the line, they’re the defending district champ, we knew that they were really going to bring it. It was great to see us match their intensity at the end of the first set so that we could push through and take the next three.”

Greenwood never trailed in game two, jumping out 5-1 and leading by as many as seven points. The Lady Gators led 10-6 in game three before South Warren scored seven straight to gain the advantage. The Spartans pushed the lead to 19-15, but Greenwood regrouped and took a 23-22 lead after a kill from Emmie Bender. South Warren battled back to tie twice, before two kills from Alexa Davis allowed the Lady Gators to take game three.

“We’ve been there before,” Reels said. “We played a tough schedule. We played Beechwood, who is a top 10 team in the state and were down to them 0-2. I think that games like that really get you ready for the intensity that we faced in the district championship.”

Greenwood quickly seized momentum in game four, using an 8-2 spurt to build a 16-7 advantage. South Warren got as close as five, but never closer.

“It’s a huge deal for us, especially since last year we came into the district tournament as underdogs and lost,” Davis said. “For us to be able to say we improved enough to win the district … it means a great deal to us.”

Davis led Greenwood with 18 kills. Annee Lasley added 13 kills, Blissett finished with nine kills and Rileigh Stivers recorded 54 assists.

Yonts led South Warren with 13 kills, while Erin Nerlen and Sophie Pemberton had 11 kills each.

“We knew coming in that it would be a really tough match,” South Warren coach Justin Griffin said. “It was basically about trying to get through one game and trying to build some momentum going into region. I think we did that. I think we played pretty solid. We got some momentum. Hopefully we can take it into next week.”

Davis was named tournament MVP. Bender, Blissett and Lasley were also part of the all-tournament team, joining Yonts, Pemberton and MacKenzie Allen from South Warren; Hailey Austin and Riley Marshall from Bowling Green; Kendall Bloyd and Hallie Willis from Warren East; and Dashia Shanklin and Tiona Shaver from Warren Central.

Greenwood and South Warren will both advance to the Region 4 tournament, which begins Monday at Warren East High School. The draw will be held Saturday morning.

South Warren will face either Logan County, Allen County-Scottsville or Clinton County.

Greenwood, the defending region champion, will face Franklin-Simpson, Monroe County or Russell County.

“That’s what it is all about,” Reels said. “It’s an opportunity to go to state by winning a region title. I’m just really excited about the way the girls are playing, the intensity they are playing with. I really thought they played exceptionally well (tonight) in a hostile environment.”{&end}