HS Volleyball: Lady Highlanders Dominate Final Pre-District Matchup Over Katy Jordan

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- The Woodlands Lady Highlanders (6-4) swept the visiting Jordan Lady Warriors (6-4) in straight sets in the final pre-district game of the season.

A tough road of tournament play and adverse matchups have shaped the Lady Highlanders into a competitive bunch that aimed to enter district play on a positive ride with one more win.

With the importance of another win in their minds, the Lady Highlanders jumped into a strong 4-0 run to start the opening set. Jordan would quickly solve their issues to overcome The Woodlands’ opening surge and a back-and-forth battle of attrition ensued.

Neither squad matched their set opening production as the points continued to pile. The inconsistent runs, miscommunications, and serving inaccuracies meant the first set stayed close at its beginning.

Seven ties and two lead changes kept the power balance of the set centered, but veteran leadership and changes on the fly pushed the Lady Highlanders ahead. Despite a late-set push by the Lady Warriors to steal the set, allowing The Woodlands to take a 25-20 opening set win.

In an exclusive interview with The Woodlands Online Sports, Lady Highlander Head Coach Terri Wade sang the praises of her players following the tight first set.

“We did lots of things right. We were blocking well, we were covering and returning tight balls in the net, and we did those things right,” explained Wade. “But we did have some first home game jitters with some miscommunication, but we powered through those.”

Unlike a first set that saw the team relinquish their early control, the Lady Highlanders opened the second set on a furious run and did not come off the gas. A mixed bag of aces, blocks, and errors on Jordan’s side gave The Woodlands a 6-0 opening run to gain immediate separation on the scoreboard.

A rigid presence at the net consisting of players Elizabeth Kath, Ella Lewis, and Payton Stroud constantly denied opposing hits from coming across the net. Jordan’s inability to get the ball through the Lady Highlander wall allowed the rest of The Woodlands hitters to work their rotations and connect with efficiency comfortably.

“I think the biggest difference was our serves coming on, and they struggled with offense after that,” said Wade. “And that worked for us, because they had some good hitters trying to put the ball away, but they couldn’t.”

Frequent Lady Warrior timeouts tried to stop The Woodlands’ advance, but the Lady Highlander continued to swell. Five aces from Cameron McDonald ultimately broke the back of the Jordan defense by refusing to hand the momentum to the Lady Warriors. The fifth and final ace of the set signaled the end of a dominant run from The Woodlands, rewarding the team with a 25-6 win to go up two sets to none.

“The aggressive serves took away [Jordan’s] game,” said Wade. “We didn’t have to work as hard because they didn’t have offense. The long rallies from our serves weren’t just serving a bad passer but were serving empty spots on the court, and that was exciting to watch.”

A similar energy that closed the second set was what the Lady Highlanders rode to start the third and final set. Another fast opening saw the team establish an 8-1 lead before a Jordan timeout attempted to stall the momentum.

Even with the pause, The Woodlands continued to push their advantage through the finish line. It was 11 unanswered points for the Lady Highlanders before Jordan could muster even their second of the set.

No amount of work on behalf of the Lady Warriors could stop the cascade of points coming their direction. Brief responses of points were the only bright spots the team, unfortunately, got, as the 13-point Woodlands lead was too large to overcome.

The last bit of salt in Jordan’s wound came from a match-ending kill from (TW 14) to seal the final set in a 25-10 win for The Woodlands. The Lady Warriors tried, in vain, to make the final set close, but no work prevented the straight-set victory for the Lady Highlanders.

A win and two wins above .500 poises the Lady Highlanders to enter district play on a positive note, but their opponent to kickstart the campaign will be a tough test.

“We open up district with Grand Oaks at Grand Oaks, so I don’t think it gets tougher than that,” said Wade. “It’s nice though to have a little confidence boost. Knowing that we can serve aggressively and keep people out of their offense when they have good hitters because that’s what we’ll be facing.”

The district opener for The Woodlands will be the Lady Grizzlies on Tuesday with the first set to begin at 5:30.

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