HS Volleyball: 20th Anniversary of College Park Volleyball is Spoiled by the Red-Hot Lady Grizzlies

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- The College Park Lady Cavaliers (24-10) fell defending their homecourt against the visiting Grand Oaks Lady Grizzlies (31-6) who remain unbeaten through district play.

The anticipated rematch of a game that went to five sets in September also fell on a night of celebration for College Park. Colorful decorations filled the hallways leading to the gym to celebrate College Park Volleyball’s 20th anniversary.

Spirits were high, but the play on the floor would need to match the pregame energy if the Lady Cavs wanted to come away with a win.

Both teams felt one another out in the early first set. The early play emphasized finding holes in the opposing defense, adjusting blocking, and setting up strong serve/receive play.

In an exclusive interview with The Woodlands Online Sports, Grand Oaks Head Coach Morgan Rogers spoke on what fuels her team during early play.

“Whenever we can get the defense going and transition it into points, that’s when I start to feel like things are going our way,” said Rogers. “If we’re not and we’re just letting balls land between us, I can tell we aren’t really zoned in.”

The scoring was so even between the teams that they tied for every point through the initial seven points. Neither team could build a solid lead or momentum with the infrequent scoring and shortened runs.

Grand Oaks was the first to make a break, with a string of kills from Samara Coleman and Halle Thompson pushing the team to a 4-0 run. The Lady Grizzly run took the lead, but College Park quickly wiped it away, and a tie at 10 was the result.

Luckily for the Lady Grizzlies, their positive momentum carried through the brief Lady Cav onslaught. A four-point was not a large cushion through the midpoint of the set, but it was enough to keep College Park at bay for a time.

Then, another College Park charge brought the team back while reviving the recently silent home crowd. A kill from Lacy Tinnell tied the teams at 17 and sent a shockwave through the gym.

More Lady Cavalier points in quick succession fueled the rampant College Park student section and gave the team a 19-18 lead going into crunch time.

But, championship experience prevailed for the Lady Grizzlies nearing set point. Two Lady Cavalier timeouts tried to stop the Grand Oaks advance at the last second, but the orange and blue train continued to roll.

A 6-0 run in the set’s final moments pushed the Lady Grizzlies through the finish line, and the team took a one-set lead following their 25-20 win.

“It felt huge,” said Rogers following the team’s opening set win. “Coming in here, we expected it to be contentious in here, but coming out and being able to take the first set with us clicking was a good sign.”

Grand Oaks’ strong end of the first set did not lead to instant success to start the second. Like they had to start the match, the teams traded infrequent scoring and errors on serves to start the second.

Seven ties highlighted the back-and-forth nature of the early second, but a 2-0 run out of a tie from the Lady Grizzlies gave the team the largest lead of the set. But, with how up-and-down the scoring was, it was shortlived due to a College Park run that tied the teams again.

A battle of small runs and little room for error kept the teams in a perpetual state of trying to pull away. Each time Grand Oaks created separation on the scoreboard, the Lady Cavaliers would respond with a run that evened them.

“Their defense always brings it,” said Rogers on College Park. “Morgan Madison is a monster. She really leads the charge for them and she frustrates a lot of hitter. I think their play caused us to find new ways to score instead of bing aggressive.”

Approaching the 20-point mark, the Lady Grizzlies were pushing with a 19-16 lead, the largest of the set to that point. Their momentum was substantial enough to force College Park into another possible momentum-killing timeout to salvage the set.

The Lady Cav timeout did stop Grand Oaks’ run, but it did not prevent the Lady Grizzlies from continuing their winning ways as the set continued. Aces from Grand Oaks’ Cali Reece kept the initiative on her team’s side while pushing College Park into a deeper hole on the scoreboard.

Another College Park timeout put the team on a small 2-0 scoring run to make things interesting, but a block at the net from Emma Ferreria sent an incoming Lady Cav kill to the hardwood.

“I think tonight was a night where everyone had to step up and contribute,” said Rogers. “All three of my middles that played tonight did a really good job. We talked with them about staying with [College Park’s] middles because they’re very effective and they did that really well.”

The block was the final point of another close set, but the 25-21 Grand Oaks win put immense pressure on College Park to avoid a homecourt sweep.

Needing a win to stay alive, the Lady Cavs needed to piece together a near-perfect effort to overcome the daunting task forced on them by the visiting Lady Grizzlies.

A third straight set started with the teams trading points in the early going. Momentum was up for grabs in either direction, but neither team mounted a strong enough surge to claim it.

For the first time all match, College Park was the first to create early separation by riding three 2-0 runs to take an early three-point lead. Their runs were built on strong kills down the line from Lacy Tinnell and solid blocking from the middle of the team’s front row.

“Their blockers did great against us last time we played and they did another great job tonight,” said Rogers. “They had great touches against my outsides and made them work hard tonight.”

College Park continued to accelerate with their lead in hand toward their strongest performance yet. Sporadic points from Grand Oaks did not worry the team on their surge to a hopeful comeback.

Tight play and some close calls by the officials kept the intensity high as the third set continued. Calls near the line and some out-of-bounds judgment calls were equally scrutinized by the home and away crowds, with neither conceding an inch through the midpoint of the third set.

A few minor Grand Oaks runs heightened the tension further by jeopardizing the slimly built College Park lead. The continued fight from the Lady Grizzlies paid off when an ace notched the teams at 15 points apiece and the war of attrition continued.

Both teams battled to find the difference maker, but each attempt at a breakaway was undone by increasingly impressive play.

With the teams tied at 19, the next couple of points carried immense significance. College Park’s hopeful comeback and Grand Oaks’ potential sweep rested on each team’s ability to finish to the end.

A kill from Grand Oaks gave way to an ace on the following serve, giving the team a 22-20 lead that appeared to be the death blow to College Park’s hopes.

Another late Lady Cavalier timeout tried to stave off the Lady Grizzlies in the final points, but it failed. An aired kill from College Park sent the match-winning point to Grand Oaks’ side in an intense 25-21 win.

With sweeps over College Park and The Woodlands on their resume, the major challenge left for the Lady Grizzlies turns to keeping their district unbeaten streak alive and to finish on a perfect 13-6A run.

“We talked a little bit tonight about not sitting back and expecting people to let us have it,” said Rogers. “We used the slogan at the end of the year last year about ‘Take It’ and that’s what we’ve got to do in these final games.”

Grand Oaks’ march for perfection continues at home against the New Caney Eagles on Friday, while College Park faces a playoff-potential in Willis on the road.

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