Lady War Eagles snap Lady Highlanders 24-game win streak, snatch victory in four games

THE WOODLANDS, Texas- The Woodlands Lady Highlanders (31-3, 9-1) had been on a roll, winning 24 straight games and winning 66 of their last 67 games. Tonight they went up against a fired up Oak Ridge Lady War Eagle volleyball squad (29-5, 9-2) at Oak Ridge Gymnasium and dropped three games in four tries, falling by a score of 25-21, 25-14, 21-25, 25-20. This was Oak Ridge's first victory in the last 19 games versus The Woodlands, and the win brings Oak Ridge within one game of The Woodlands for the district crown as the season concludes next week.

“I feel amazing,” said Oak Ridge Head Coach Tommie Sledge. “This being our senior night, how much passion, how much they have worked for this. They deserved it, they played like such a team tonight.”

Having a strong game for the Lady War Eagles was Brooke Clark, who was phenomenal with 28 kills and 15 digs. Victoria Harris had 18 kills and 18 digs, and Carly Graham had 16 kills and 20 digs. Jackie Ward had 34 assists and 11 digs, and Raigen Cianciulli tallied 35 digs for the contest.

For the Lady Highlanders, Rachel Reed led the charge with 15 kills. Courtney Quinn added 12 kills and led the team with 24 digs, and Kendall Cool finished with 39 assists.

Before the game began, both sides of the gymnasiums were filled with fans cheering on each team. The team that felt out the crowd and started on top were The Lady Highlanders, which started with a Kendall Cook dig that led to a Bella Pinton slam to get the 1-0 lead. Reed got in the mix early with a kill to jump the lead to 2-0. A slam by Clark stemmed the tide and got the score even at 2-2, and momentum was up for grabs. A Clark kill that was blocked out of bounds got Oak Ridge out in front 5-3, and a kill by freshman Carly Graham upped it to 6-3. A kill by Clark after The Woodlands let a free ball get away without points saw the score jump to 10-5 and force The Lady Highlanders into a timeout to talk things over. A Harris kill that was blocked out of bounds ballooned the lead to 12-5 Oak Ridge, and another backcourt kill by Harris made it 13-5 Oak Ridge as they were controlling the first game. After a long rally, a smash by Pinton got the lead to 13-8 Oak Ridge, and the game was starting to tighten. A five point serving run by Pasch got the score to 15-13 Oak Ridge and forced a timeout from the Lady War Eagles. The next point saw a ball sail long for The Woodlands following the timeout, and the lead for Oak Ridge went to 17-14. Another Clark smash to center court upped the lead to 18-15 Oak Ridge, as they were trying to close in on the game one victory. With Reed serving, the Lady Highlanders went on a run, and after a Quinn kill the lead closed to 21-19 Lady War Eagles. The teams traded points, but after a Clark kill on a deflection, the first game went to Oak Ridge, 25-21.

The second game saw a Lady Highlander side still looking to find a rhythm, and after a ball was blocked out of bounds by The Woodlands, a confident Oak Ridge team had opened up a 4-1 lead. After a Clark kill upped the lead to 7-1, The Woodlands were forced to call for time. A block by Hannah Hickman and Pasch tightened the lead to 9-5 Oak Ridge, but a big-time kill by Clark got Oak Ridge out in front 11-6. A Harris kill upped the lead to 16-8, and Oak Ridge was on fire at this point in the match. A block by Reed and Pinton got the lead to 17-10 Oak Ridge, as the Lady Highlanders were trying to find their way back into the game. A Harris kill blocked out of bounds made the score 19-10, and Oak Ridge was in control to go up 2-0 in the contest. A block on a kill attempt by Clark dwindled the lead to 22-14, and caused Oak Ridge to call for time to collect themselves. The timeout was effective, as Clark was successful on her next attempt and the lead opened to 23-14. The set ended in favor of Oak Ridge, 25-14, when a Clark kill sailed out of bounds on a block attempt.

A Harris kill to begin the third game had a confident Lady War Eagle team in front 1-0, looking for the sweep. A Graham kill off a deflection got the lead to 3-1 Oak Ridge, and the game felt like the first two at this point. A Reed ace started to get the Lady Highlanders back in the contest, as the third game was deadlocked at 3-3. A kill by Hickman kept the third game tied at 5-5, and both teams were looking for an opening. A Pasch drop shot to center court got The Woodlands out in front for the first time in game three, 7-6. A Reed kill got the lead to 9-6 Lady Highlanders, and momentum was starting to swing. A block by Reed and Pinton upped the lead to 11-7, and forced the Lady War Eagles into a timeout. A Pinton kill after a dig by Cook had the Lady Highlanders on a 6-1 run and got the lead to 12-7, but an error on the next serve made it 12-8, and both teams were alive in game three. A Clark kill tightened the game to 13-12 Lady Highlanders, and the game was being played with high quality from both teams. Clark continued to be dominant, and after a kill to center court the third game was all tied up at 15-15. An error on back-to-back plays got the Lady Highlanders up 19-15, and Oak Ridge called for time to talk things over. After a Reed kill was blocked leading to a point for Oak Ridge, the score shrunk to 20-19 Lady Highlanders, but a Quinn kill upped the lead to 22-20, as both teams were trying to close out the game. After a Quinn smash that couldn’t be dug, the Lady Highlanders were the team to close out game three and get on the board with a 25-21 edge.

Game four opened with a 3-1 lead for Oak Ridge, following a kill by Graham that was blocked out of bounds. A block by Morgan McCoy and Clark on a Reed attempt upped the lead to 5-1 Oak Ridge, and a kill by Clark following that made it 6-1. A kill by Graham made it 7-1, and the Lady Highlanders called for time to talk things over. A block by Pasch and Cook made the score 8-4 Lady War Eagles, and the fourth game was starting to tighten. Another block by Pasch and Hickman made the score 8-6, and it was anyone's game at this point. A Clark kill across-court made the score 10-7, and Oak Ridge was looking to close out the contest and avoid a fifth and decisive game. A Pinton smash made it 11-8, and both teams were trading points. A strong kill by Reed to the back corner made the lead 13-10 Oak Ridge, and The Woodlands were looking to put pressure on the Lady War Eagles. A Graham drop shot made it 15-10, and Oak Ridge was up to the task at this point in the game. An ace by Reed closed the gap to 15-13, and it was a race to the finish in game four. A Clark kill kept the game from being tied, and Oak Ridge stayed ahead in game four 16-14. A Kill by Harris that was tipped out of bounds made the score 19-17, and the final pressure points would decide who would take game four. A smart drop shot by Jackie Ward got the lead to 21-18, and the game was coming down to the wire. A Harris kill after a long rally got the lead to 23-19 Oak Ridge, and they were looking to close out the match. A kill by Clark got the game to 24-19, and an error on a serve gave Oak Ridge the contest with a 25-20 win in game four.

“They were real fired up, it was senior night,” said Lady Highlander Head Coach Leslie Madison. “Kudos to them, they played great defense, they deserved to win.”

Oak Ridge gets a breather on Friday before closing out district play next Tuesday at Summer Creek. The Woodlands closes out their season at home against Summer Creek on Friday and at Kingwood next Tuesday before both teams prepare for their first round of the playoffs. Neither team will know their district 15-6A opponent until play concludes next week.

“The beginning doesn’t matter, it’s the end, how we finish going into the playoffs,” said Sledge. “We’re doing nothing but going up.