By Rob Tate
SportCast Media
If a week could be light, yet majorly challenging at the same time…this is that week for Oak Ridge volleyball.
The light part?
Oak Ridge (31-9, 8-4) will rest up on Tuesday night as it observes its District 13-6A second round bye.
The challenging part?
The War Eagles host rival, defending state champion and No. 8 Grand Oaks (32-6, 12-0) at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
Oak Ridge will roll into that second of three consecutive home matches off a pair of sweeps last week. The War Eagles topped New Caney (25-8, 25-18, 25-9) and Conroe (25-11, 25-19, 25-11) last week and have won three of its last four matches.
Grand Oaks has done well in defending its district title so far with 12 match wins and just five set losses so far. The Grizzlies have dropped just one set in the second round of a district play during a four-set win over The Woodlands on Oct. 1.
Grand Oaks has swept Cleveland, College Park and New Caney in succession since then. It plays at Conroe Tuesday night.
Oak Ridge has continued to achieve success this season with its bread and butter. Junior Gaby Santiago leads most offensive categories for the team while fellow junior Leila Ceaser is also up there in kills.
Senior Bradi Rhodes leads the team in assists while Oak Ridge has shown depth defensively on the back row all season. Sophomore Micah Rusher continues to dominate the net as the leader in blocks.
In Grand Oaks, Oak Ridge will strive to end a long losing streak to its rival. The Grizzlies are 10-1 all-time against Oak Ridge with nine straight wins.
Back on Sept. 17, Oak Ridge got off to a big start in the first set before the Grizzlies clawed back and then took the sweep 25-22, 25-11, 25-19.
In that match, junior Karli Glover led the offensive attack with six kills. Santiago had four kills and nine digs while Rhodes had 12 assists and nine digs.
Halle Thompson and Samara Coleman each had over 20 kills apiece for the Grizzlies.
DISTRICT 13-6A STANDINGS
Grand Oaks 12-0
The Woodlands 9-2
College Park 9-3
Oak Ridge 8-4
Willis 6-6
Caney Creek 3-7
Conroe 3-8
New Caney 1-10
Cleveland 0-11
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