HS Volleyball: Sweep Over Willis Keeps the Lady Grizzlies Unbeaten in District

SPRING, TX -- The Grand Oaks Lady Grizzlies (27-6) swept the visiting Willis Ladykats (21-16) in a matchup to stay unbeaten in the competitive District 13-6A.

After spending 2023 in a middle-of-the-pack situation that left the team outside of playoff contention, the Willis Ladykats have been taking strides toward a playoff push in the tight 13-6A landscape.

Wins over Conroe, Caney Creek, and New Caney have put the team on a decent trajectory. Still, a victory over the reigning state champions would be the resume builder needed to secure a spot in the postseason.

In an exclusive interview with The Woodlands Online Sports, Lady Grizzly Head Coach Morgan Rogers spoke on her opponent’s emergence as a district threat and how her girls prepared for the challenge.

“We didn’t know what to expect from Willis. We hadn’t seen them anywhere and we were going to play it by ear,” said Rogers. “We knew they were super athletic as a whole and that they were going to fight us hard.”

The first set was a solid showing from the underdog Ladykats, with the team keeping the initial points tightly contested. A brief lead was Willis’ reward for early aggressive play, but mistakes while trying to extend the lead were the team’s undoing.

Errors on serves and misjudging incoming Lady Grizzly serves were frequent miscues that put Willis’ hopes of a quick win down the drain.

Willis continued to scrap for points throughout the opening set, but the sustained runs established by Grand Oaks were too much for the Ladykats to match.

Ruthless play from outside hitters Halle Thompson, Samara Coleman, and Gianna Malone kept the pressure against the Ladykat blockers at a fever pitch. Their constant shots and kills though would-be Willis blockers extended the Lady Grizzly lead out of reach.

A 13-point lead was too much for Willis to overcome efficiently, and the team was quickly subdued in an 11-25 loss.

Grand Oaks’ relentless kills from their talented outside hitters proved vital in the opening set and would continue to push the team as the match soldiered on.

“I’m glad they continued to hold that pressure on their shoulders,” said Rogers of her hitters. “[Thompson and Coleman] are two of our toughest hitters and also our biggest blockers, so they do it in all facets of the game. It’s a lot of stress on them but they handle it with dignity and pride.”

Willis’ fight had reemerged to start the second set after evaporating toward the midway point of the first. The concentrated effort manifested in a series of ties and lead changes that allowed neither team to break away.

The first attempt to create distance on the scoreboard came from the Ladykats, who seized on strong defensive play to keep rallies alive while halting Grand Oaks’ offensive production.

A 3-0 Willis run was the largest of the set but refocused Lady Grizzly hitting swung the momentum back and the teams resumed their tie at 10 points apiece.

Grand Oaks continued to push after tying the teams up again, mounting a run that firmly recaptured the team’s dominant presence on the court. The 4-0 run out of the tie built the largest lead of the set and forced Willis into a timeout to stop the bleeding.

“I think they’re going to try to make or find an adjustment to what we’re doing on our side,” said Rogers. “So to me, we just have to keep doing what we’re doing and make sure we’re continuing what’s working for us.”

Willis’ timeout did stop the Lady Grizzly run, but it failed to stop Grand Oaks’ methodical advance to another win.

The infrequent scoring on the Ladykats’ part meant the team was unable to bite into the four-point Grand Oaks lead. One point at a time was an unsustainable pace that Willis could not keep up without letting the closest set slip through their fingers.

Late blocking from the Grand Oaks front row and another batch of unforced errors sank any hopes of the Ladykats taking the second set. A misread on a tipped ball at the net was the final nail in Willis’ second set coffin, and Grand Oaks took a commanding two-set-to-none lead.

“I have full confidence in these girls when it comes to closing,” said Rogers. “It’s not always pretty and it doesn’t always look the cleanest, but they’re fighters and they want to win and they’re going to find ways to win.”

With their backs against the wall, the Ladykats needed a near-perfect effort to keep the match alive going into a do-or-die third set.

Despite the Lady Grizzlies taking an early lead, Willis refused to give up against the nearly insurmountable odds. Diving on defense, sprinting into gaps, and going all-out on kills were signs of Willis’ determination.

Uncharacteristic mistakes from the Grand Oaks defense gave the Ladykats some glimmers of hope during the third set, but the eventual buildup of Lady Grizzly points signaled the end for Willis.

Gradually, the Lady Grizzlies increased their lead by brutally hitting through the Ladykat blockers. The kills served as lead-builders and morale-killers against the increasingly discouraged Willis defense.

A handful of serving errors from Grand Oaks kept the score from ballooning out of control, but Willis’ inability to sustain runs meant the team was unable to capitalize on the free points.

The Ladykats could only muster a 2-0 run to make the third set interesting, but a block from Grand Oaks’ Thompson put an end to Willis’ short-lived hope.

Grand Oaks’ lead got as high as 12 before the final point came on an ace from Samantha Sampson. The 25-13 Lady Grizzly win finished the clean sweep and ensured the team would stay unbeaten in district for another day.

“I don’t like to bring up the unbeaten streak around all of the girls so they don’t get distracted by numbers,” said Rogers. “But, the way the seeds are going to roll, we know it’ll be a dogfight. So we make sure we do what we can so we can control our destiny and not rely on anyone else.”

Rogers and the Lady Grizzlies will aim to continue the unbeaten streak with the Caney Creek Lady Panthers set to host them on Friday. Meanwhile, Willis will need to find another win soon, with their next shot also coming against Caney Creek on October 1st.

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