HS Volleyball: The Woodlands Lady Highlanders Sweep Grand Oaks 3-0

THE WOODLANDS –- The local district is packed full of some elite teams and one of them is the Woodlands Highlanders. They seem to bring the same intensity each year and have some of the top recruits coming out of the program. Although the Grand Oaks Grizzlies are a young team in the 13 6A district, they seem to match the intensity and are holding their own in matches where they are the underdogs.

Grand Oaks getting ready to start the match against The Woodlands. @grandoaksvb @TWHSVolleyball #txhsvb pic.twitter.com/FxiQIaGdCL

— Woodlands Online Sports (@WOLsports) September 28, 2021

Once again, Grand Oaks comes out swinging, bringing the same motivation each game and making the opposing team work for their points. In set one, we saw a similar skillset between the Woodlands and Grand Oaks. There were some rallies that lasted quite a bit as well as some defensive plays that were disruptive to each team. The Woodlands seems to play quite cautiously in the beginning to almost feel their opponents out, which is what they did this game. Grand Oaks is the opposite, they bring the intensity from the first serve to the last serve.

Once the first set is over, the highlanders release the flood gates and bring out all the weapons. From the second set they were defensive machines, digging many hard kills and forcing Grand Oaks to rally for the point. Grand Oaks has many strategies to keep the ball in play but this match showed that once the frustration sets in, they lose their positioning and make many errors.

When asked about her defense, Coach Terri Wade of the Woodlands said, “We are a strong defensive team, that has been our strength all season. We have good blocks, but behind the block I [Coach Wade] have 3 or 4 defensive specialist that all play.”

The Woodlands capitalized on the frustration from Grand Oaks and forced many more errors and stopped any attack from Grand Oaks. At one point the skillset was even but The Highlanders experience and power showed the young team that they have a long way to go.

“We improved on being a steady team,” said the Woodlands Lady Highlanders Head Coach Terri Wade, “today we played very consistent and evenly.”

Grand Oak’s skillset is among the elite but there are small aspects of the game that they still need to work on, just like any team. When in a deficit, it is hard to pull together and get the motivation back, but although not a physical skill, the mental and emotional skill helps get the players heads back in the game.

Unfortunately, Grand Oaks was swept in a 3-0 woodlands victory at the Woodlands High School. They are set to play Willis in their next match. The Woodlands is set to play Conroe at the end of the week.

The Woodlands vs Conroe
When: 10/01 at 5:30 pm
Where: Conroe High School

Willis vs Grand Oaks
When: 10/01 at 5:30 pm
Where: Grand Oaks High School