HS Volleyball: The Woodlands Ends District Play with Tough Win Over Oak Ridge

OAK RIDGE NORTH, TX -- Playoff-ready teams in The Woodlands Lady Highlanders (34-8) and Oak Ridge Lady War Eagles (33-11) squared off in a contested late district matchup that ended with a Lady Highlander victory.

The playoff standings for 13-6A were virtually set in stone before the match had begun, but a win and positive momentum ahead of the postseason would aid the winner well in their hopes of a playoff push.

In an interview with The Woodlands Online Sports, Lady Highlander Head Coach Terri Wade explained the importance of a late-season win against another high-caliber opponent.

“We definitely want to end this season playing out best,” said Wade. “We just keep trying to get better every match.”

The equally matched teams traded blows to start the first set, with no significant separation coming from the short-lived runs.

Both teams could only reach a run of two points. The Woodlands struggled with their early serves following kills and the Oak Ridge hitters could not force their way through the nearly impenetrable Lady Highlander front row.

“I told the girls that their superpower is their serves because they’re not only aggressive but they can place them very well,” said Wade. “But we missed six serves in the first set and it’s hard to win a match when you’re giving points away.”

Oak Ridge started to adjust on the fly to focus their hits over the Lady Highlander blockers, leading to slightly more success than the team saw earlier. Their short burst of points swung the lead in their favor, but it was closely contested the entire way by The Woodlands.

Defensive play from the Lady Highlanders got the team out of many tough spots through the midpoint of the first set, but the revamped strategy from the Lady War Eagles gradually wore the team down.

A timeout from Coach Wade signaled that Oak Ridge had gathered too much traction late in the set. The Lady War Eagles had taken a three-point lead, the largest of the set, and the Lady Highlanders needed to recapture the momentum to escape with a first-set victory.

The tactful timeout halted Oak Ridge’s momentum with the score to 22-21 and the Lady War Eagles clinging to their fragile lead.

Coach Tommie Sledge called the team’s first timeout of the set and refocused the team ahead of the intense points that followed. The pause kept the Lady Highlanders from retaking the lead while keeping the initiative on Oak Ridge’s side, ultimately securing a 25-23 win to claim the first set.

Unlike the back-and-forth scoring that defined the first set to its conclusion, The Woodlands quickly jumped out to a 4-0 run for an early lead. The continued success at the net for the Lady Highlanders gave the team a much-needed boost to offset the team’s gut-wrenching loss in the first.

“I think we got some confidence,” said Wade. “You don’t talk about the missed serves because that gets in their heads, but this time, I felt like I needed to. We had to focus on it as a winning strategy and they responded.”

Oak Ridge did mount a 4-0 run of their own, on top of other scrounged points, to swing the lead in their favor briefly. But, the Lady War Eagles ran out of momentum, and they were put behind on the scoreboard for a second time, with the Lady Highlanders outdoing themselves with a 6-0 run.

The Woodlands’ lengthy run carried the team into double-digits while putting the team up by five. The Lady Highlanders would have to fight for points the rest of the way, but their early runs were significant for providing a decent cushion on the scoreboard.

An Oak Ridge timeout tried to stop The Woodlands while up six, but excellent blocking from Alexandra Besplay, Ella Lewis, and Payton Stroud kept the wheels turning for a Lady Highlander squad looking to take an emphatic win.

The timeout did not stop The Woodlands’ continual march toward a win, with the team taking a 25-23 win to even the teams at one set apiece.

The runaway success of The Woodlands’ second set was lightly mimicked to start the third.

Two separate runs pushed the team ahead of the Lady War Eagles early, but two fairly substantial Oak Ridge runs kept the start of the third from being a second straight lopsided start in The Woodlands’ favor.

But the steam and aggressive hitting that kept the Lady War Eagles afloat quickly ran out. The door was then open for the Lady Highlanders to mount another significant run to gain distance on the scoreboard going into double digits.

A Lady Highlander run of 9-0 rode aces from Stroud and gimme kills at the net from Kath to spring the team forward to a 17-6 lead before the Lady War Eagles finally managed to stop the seemingly unending Woodlands onslaught.

“Volleyball is a game of momentum and you want it to be on your side,” explained Wade. “Sometimes the ball falls our way and that keeps us going on top of the serves giving our offense some confidence during runs.”

Unfortunately for the Lady War Eagles, sporadic runs of two to three points were not nearly enough for the team to take away from the 12-point Lady Highlander lead.

The luxury of a double-digit lead allowed The Woodlands to concede occasional points without serious threat of losing the set.

Oak Ridge’s lack of success early in the set caused the team to drop another set in the face of a second set controlled by the Lady Highlanders. The 25-17 win was the largest difference of the match and embodied The Woodlands’ substantial momentum since dropping the first set.

“It was a little tense to start the game because of their errors, but once they built their confidence up, they got their fun back and were enjoying the game,” said Wade. “They’re kind of unstoppable when they’re out there and they’re having fun.”

A third straight Lady Highlander surge was not in the cards to start the fourth set.

Slowly adding points on two to three-point runs was the main method of lead building for The Woodlands. Unwavering play at the net kept the Lady Highlanders ahead of the desperate Lady War Eagles while putting together a five-point lead.

The gradual buildup of Woodlands points from the team’s outside hitters peppered the Oak Ridge defense regardless of the adjustments put on by Coach Sledge.

Refocusing the team during a timeout did work for the Lady War Eagles in the short term. It stopped The Woodlands with the lead at seven while pushing the team to two points of tying.

Dives to the floor for digs and chasing after deflected hits were key to Oak Ridge’s fight late in the set. The effort from the Lady War Eagles kept the pressure against the Lady Highlanders high by keeping the game within reach.

With chances for an easy win running out, the Lady Highlanders relied on their positive energy and steadfast front row to finish the job. A push from Oak Ridge to force a kill over the top sailed out of bounds and it allowed The Woodlands to exit with a 25-22 win to finish the match 3-1.

The relentless play from 13-6A had tested the Lady Highlanders and their perceived strengths. But continued effort has pushed the team through, and the playoffs wait on the other side.

“I think we’ll have a good warmup game this weekend against Cinco Ranch,” said Wade. “We definitely have the talent, the skill, and the drive to make a long playoff run, we just have to be consistent with it.”

The Lady Highlanders will prepare for a Friday warmup match against the state runner-up Cinco Ranch Lady Cougars, while Oak Ridge gets ready for a playoff run of their own.

Photos