Volleyball: Lady War Eagles put end to Highlanders perfect season

THE WOODLANDS, Texas---The Undefeated Lady Highlanders volleyball team went head to head against district rival Oak Ridge on Tuesday night.

Highlanders came into this game hot, having not lost a match all season long, but they were going to need to play near perfect volleyball to defeat the team right behind them in district 12-6A.

The Lady War Eagles came out strong looking to make a statement, as they knew it’s been impossible to knock off the Lady Highlanders in their building, all season long. The first set was not looking good for The Woodlands to start, as Oak Ridge jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead in the first set before the Lady Highlanders made a strong comeback

Not soon after though, Oak Ridge put together a string of kills that The Woodlands did not have an answer for. Lady War Eagles jumped back out in front and would not look back, as The Lady War Eagles took the first game 25-21.

In the second set, The Lady Highlanders stepped up their play but were never really able to pull away from the Lady War Eagles. The Lady Highlanders got out to an 18-14 lead and forced Oak Ridge to call a timeout due to what looked like fatigue from the War Eagles. The Lady Highlanders rolled though, on the back end of the set, and would take the second set 25-20. The game would be even at one a piece.

The Highlanders’ Senior AJ Koele took over the game in the third set. It seemed as if she was killing every ball that came her way. She was truly the spark the Highlanders were waiting for to get going. Momentum shifted in the way of the Highlanders in this one as they took the set 25-20. The Woodlands went on top two games to one.

Oak Ridge, in the fourth set, would take that momentum The Lady Highlanders had momentum going into the set and flip it a full 360 degrees. The set pieces from Oak Ridge seemed a lot more fluent and the spikes a lot more powerful.

This was a set The Lady Highlanders would like to forget. The Lady War Eagles took this set 25-20. The two teams were tied at two games a piece.

Going into the fourth and final set, Oak Ridge had complete momentum. The home crowd was silent while The Lady War Eagles crowd was making their presence known.

It was getting to The Woodlands and it was obvious they were rattled. The Lady War Eagles sped out to a quick 8-3 lead. The Lady Highlanders undefeated season hanging in the balance. Senior Molly Russell and Junior Natalie Martin were doing everything for the Lady War Eagles early in the set.

Oak Ridge continued to dominate the final set and put an end to the Lady Highlanders undefeated season. The Lady War Eagles won the match three sets to two.