Oak Ridge had to play its biggest match of the year without its leader in kills, digs, and aces.
That’s sports. That happens sometimes.
With junior Gaby Santiago sidelined after an injury at practice Monday, the War Eagles picked her up and went hard against Royse City.
The War Eagles grabbed the first set, but the Bulldogs prevailed the rest of the way for a 18-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-15 Region II-6A Division II semifinal win Tuesday night at Groesbeck High School.
Oak Ridge ends the season 35-12 while Royse City won its 40th match of the season. The Bulldogs will face College Park in the regional championship later this week. The Bulldogs, runners-up in District 10-6A, have won six straight and dropped just the one set to the Oak Ridge so far in the playoffs.”
Oak Ridge coach Tommie Lynne Sledge lives by the philosophy of next player up. The War Eagles did a fine of job of that despite the season-ending defeat.
“You be ready when it’s you’re turn,” Sledge said. “You never know.”
The War Eagles had 10 players combine on 37 kills and three players had double-digit digs.
“Gaby had a little slip yesterday, so we were protecting it and wanted to do what was best for her right now,” Sledge said. “She hasn’t been to the doctor or anything. We knew we wanted to take care of her and we had a next girl up. That’s what we try to train them and get them to believe it. Who’s going to be the one that steps up?”
The opening set had shades of Friday night. It also reminded Sledge of the team’s first experience against Royse City this season back in August, a match the War Eagles won in three sets at the Huntsville Tournament.
Four nights ago, Oak Ridge fell behind early to Tomball in the area round before picking up some steam to take the early advantage with 15 consecutive points.
This time, Oak Ridge took 14 of the final 16 points against the Bulldogs, who started off hot with multiple aces as well as kills from Tulsa commit Kylee McCoy.
Down 16-12, Oak Ridge started a 9-0 run featuring multiple kills by junior Leila Ceaser.
“When we played them the first time, earlier this season, it was kind of the same thing,” Sledge said. “I think their team does a great job bringing the energy from the beginning. They were hyped up and ready to go from the beginning.”
After taking the lead at 17-16, junior Karli Glover helped secure the set win with a cross-court kill.
“I think our girls did a great job shutting that down a little bit after they got going,” Sledge said. “One of our philosophies is that the game doesn’t start until 15. My girls do a really a good of when it’s time to start, they get started.”
Glover carried the first-set magic into the second set with an instant kill to start. The teams exchanged a tie score through the first two points before Royse City pulled away with a 4-1 run. It never relinquished the lead the rest of the set as Patience Gibson put in an ace to close the set and tie the match up.
The third set was different from the first two. Fifteen ties, nine lead changes made for a tone change in the match real quick.
The biggest lead came at 14-12 when Oak Ridge took the brief advantage.
The War Eagles and Bulldogs continued going back-and-forth until Oak Ridge went up 22-20 on a service error.
From there, the Bulldogs took five straight points with three McCoy kills to take the advantage into the fourth set.
“It felt like it,” Sledge said of all the ties and lead changes. “A lot of emotions happened in there and we tried to work around it. Sometimes the emotions can be good and sometimes they can be draining. I think that’s what kind of happened to us.”
Seizing momentum off the huge third set win, Royse City raced out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set and never trailed.
Junior Leila Ceaser led with nine kills while Glover had eight. Sophomore Ally Like had six kills and Clay added five.
Junior Riley Dube led in digs with 18. Junior Taylor Whitehead had 13 while Ceaser and junior Guen Blackburn each had 10 apiece. Blackburn also had 21 assists.
Senior Bradi Rhodes wrapped up her high school career with 15 assists and five digs. Senior Layla Porter had three kills in her final high school match.
Oak Ridge went a round farther and scored three more wins than last season. The War Eagles played a thrilling four-set win in the area round over Tomball and over a week ago, swept Westfield in the bi-district round.
“My girls play with a lot of passion and heart and I love that for them,” Sledge said. “Now they know that they have to play this next game as hard as they played the other games, It’s a learning experience for all these girls. This was a playoff environment on both sides. I’m so appreciative of our crowd, they really brought it tonight.”
The Oak Ridge War Eagles volleyball team listens to instructions from coach Tommie Lynne Sledge during a timeout against Royse City during the Region II-6A Division II semifinals at Groesbeck High School, Nov. 12, 2024. (Chris Zorzi/SportCast Media)
