This season's Greenfield girls volleyball team doesn't look much like the one that finished second in the Woodland Conference Tournament and advanced to a WIAA sectional championship match a year ago.
These Hustlin' Hawks, however, seem to be headed in the same direction.
Greenfield began this season with a heavy graduation loss, including hitting star Alyssa Evans, and without 6 foot-2 inch standout Stacey Butts, who is still rehabilitating from surgery for a left hand injury she sustained in the 2007-08 basketball season.
The Hawks, though, find themselves at the top of the Woodland Conference at 5-0 in dual meets heading into their match against St. Francis today, Oct. 2. They already own victories over Brown Deer, which is enjoying its best season in years; defending Woodland Tournament champion New Berlin Eisenhower and a tough Whitnall team earlier this week.
Senior captain Jenny Gyurina, a setter, considered this a rebuilding year and admits to some surprise about how well the Hawks have done. "I knew we would be okay," she said, "but we've played some good teams and beaten them."
Gyurina said there are several reasons for the success. "We have good passers and we have a connection between us; we are all close," she said. "Also, everyone still thinks we're the underdogs, and that gives us an urge to do better."
The Hawks have only three seniors on their roster, including Butts, but coach Britany Pfeifer said the younger players have done well. "We are having a lot of underclassmen step up to the challenge this year of filling in the large holes that were left by the senior class," she said. "Our ballhandling and defensive play are stronger than ever. That is something that every team needs to have consistently, and by doing so, we have been able to stay on top of the conference."
After this week, the Hawks have two more Woodland matches, at Greendale on Tuesday, Oct. 7 and home against Pewaukee on Thursday, Oct. 9. Then comes the Woodland Tournament on Thursday, Oct. 16 and Saturday, Oct. 18.
The young squad will soon find out if it can continue its unexpected stay at the top of the Woodland.
