Volleyball: Oak Ridge falls to Kingwood

HUMBLE, Texas – The Oak Ridge High School volleyball team left it all out on the Humble High School court Tuesday in the first round of the state playoffs.

Unfortunately for the Lady War Eagles, it was Kingwood that proved just a little bit better in their 25-18, 28-26, 25-21 victory.

“Just outgunned,” is how Oak Ridge volleyball coach Tommie Sledge described the hard-fought match. “Errors killed us; service errors at big points. We’d miss a serve to let them catch up where we really need that serve to make a run.”

Still, the Lady War Eagles battled to the very end in a match that was much, much closer than the 3-0 score indicated.

The first game was tied 14-14. The second game was tied 17-17 and Oak Ridge led 23-20 and appeared to tie the match with a victory in that game but what the Lady War Eagles thought was a tipped ball on game-point was not called and the point went to Kingwood.

The game was extended to tie scores of 23, 24 and 26 before the Lady Mustangs prevailed.

The third game was also tied at 16, 17 and 18.

“I’m very, very proud of them,” Sledge said of her team. “We made a lot of mistakes at crucial points. But I know that (the team) comes fighting hard, ready to play.”

Jackie Ward and Victoria Harris led Oak Ridge at the net with eight kills apiece. Harris, a junior, also added 13 digs while senior Whitney Wofford handed out 16 assists.

Oak Ridge concludes what Sledge called, “a rollercoaster” season at 26-10. “But a good team, a lot coming back,” she said. “A lot of starters coming back, so a bright future. We’ve just got to pick up the loose ends.”

Wofford is the only senior starter on a team of just four seniors.

“I know that they are going to step up and be able to compete next year,” Sledge said.

Was this season, filled with young talent, the beginning to something?

“If they want it to be,” Sledge said. “It’s going to be what they make of it and what they want.”