University Interscholastic League volleyball teams don’t always get the opportunity to host a playoff in their home gym.
It worked out this way for Oak Ridge this time.
The War Eagles begin the Region II-6A Division II playoffs 5:30 p.m. Monday against Westfield.
Both programs are respectively in the playoffs for the second straight season and meet for the first time since the bi-district round in 2020. Oak Ridge swept that match.
In some ways, Oak Ridge (33-11) probably feels like the playoffs began last week as its final regular season match came against state-ranked The Woodlands, which resulted in a loss in four sets where a lot of that playoff feeling was drummed up.
Westfield (16-9), meanwhile, had its best result in district play this year since that 2020 team as the Mustangs went 11-3 for a second place finish.
The Mustangs went a perfect 9-0 in the month of October. Their last loss came Sept. 26 against Aldine MacArthur. They went 2-3 to start district play earlier in September with other losses coming against Spring and Aldine Nimitz.
Wins are wins, but Westfield really had to earn it to keep that winning streak intact. Five of the nine matches during October went to five sets while two others went four sets. It earned sweeps against Aldine and MacArthur, the eventual district champion, two weeks ago in consecutive matches.
Westfield hasn’t won a playoff match in 21 years and is 0-4 against Oak Ridge since 2007.
Oak Ridge’s stretch run was about as challenging as you might expect in District 13-6A.
Oak Ridge went 10-0 in the teams that placed below it in the district standings while going 0-6 in the state-ranked teams that finished above. The War Eagles won three sets in those matches.
“Going into the playoffs, I think we are doing some good things,” Oak Ridge coach Tommie Lynne Sledge said last week. “I think we just have to have that killer instinct. That’s what I’m missing a little bit of.”
A year ago in the War Eagles’ return to the playoffs, nine current players got to experience what the postseason was all about. Oak Ridge swept MacArthur in the bi-district round before succumbing to Bridgeland via sweep in the area round.
It will be one last postseason run attempt for seniors like Bradi Rhodes and Layla Porter. Rhodes is the leader in assists for the War Eagles and a major contributor on digs. Porter has contributed offensively.
Juniors Riley Dube, Gaby Santiago (the teams leader in kills, digs and aces), Leila Ceaser, Jade Clay, Guen Blackburn, as well as sophomores Micah Rusher and Gabbie Perduk with get their next playoff experience starting this week with eligibility left to return again next year.
“To see them fight together and grow a little bit…I think we have some push we need to add into it,” Sledge said.
If Oak Ridge can get past the bi-district round for the 17th time since 1998, the area round will take place later this week against the winner of Cypress Woods (31-12) and Tomball (21-19), who also play Monday evening.
The War Eagles haven’t gone beyond the area round since 2018.
Sledge has faith and hope in this team to do big things. It’s all on the table for an experienced team that has tested itself all year.
“Whatever they want to accomplish, they’re going to be able to accomplish,” Sledge said. “Whatever they set their mind, head and heart to, they are going to be able to obtain that.”
As seen earlier this season, the Oak Ridge War Eagles have nine players with playoff experience after reaching last year. (Chris Zorzi/SportCast Media)
