Oak Ridge takes down Tomball, advances to regional semifinals

Oak Ridge trailed in the early moments of the Region II-6A Division II area round match with Tomball.

And then the War Eagles off.

Down 12-10 in the first set and with senior Bradi Rhodes serving, Oak Ridge reeled off 15 straight points and the bench exploded when the Cougars hit the final point off the referee stand.

Tomball evened the match up the next set before the War Eagles took it the rest of the way for the 25-12, 18-25, 25-20, 25-18 win Friday evening at Klein High School.

Oak Ridge (35-11) advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2018. The War Eagles will match up with Royse City (39-8), 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Grosbeck High School.

Tomball (22-20) was denied an eight straight win and its second trip to the third round in three years.

The War Eagles showed improved energy and enthusiasm coming out of Monday’s bi-district sweep of Westfield as the bench went nuts after the first set win over the Cougars.

Nine War Eagles combined on 37 kills and had a collective kill percentage of 33.3%.

Junior Gaby Santiago collected a match-high 16 kills while fellow junior Leila Ceaser had six kills and sophomore Micah Rusher had five and led in blocks with four.

Santiago added 10 digs for a double-double and led Oak Ridge in aces with two.

Rhodes totaled 19 assists, three digs and three kills. Junior Guen Blackburn had a solid showing with 15 assists and seven digs. Caesar added four digs.

Oak Ridge ran its winning streak against Tomball to nine straight as the teams met for the first time since 2016.

The War Eagles and District 13-6A foe College Park are still alive in the Division II bracket as the Cavaliers beat Magnolia West Thursday night.

Royse City has won four straight matches, including a 25-18, 25-17, 25-23 sweep of DeSoto in the area round Friday night.

Oak Ridge and Royse City have played in each of the last two seasons. Back in August, the Bulldogs took two out of three sets over the War Eagles in the Huntsville Tournament. Oak Ridge won the meeting last year.