The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats volleyball team won the District 3-AAA championship on Wednesday night at Central High School and will play for a regional title at Bearden High School on Tuesday. (Submitted photo)
Submitted by Coach Carmen Foster
The Oak Ridge High School Lady Wildcats volleyball team went into the District 3-AAA volleyball tournament undefeated.
The Lady Wildcats faced the winner of Powell and Central for their first match last week. Powell overcame a scrappy Central team to advance into the District Round.
The Lady Wildcats beat Powell in straight sets: 25-9, 25-15, and 25-13. They were led by a wonderful serving game led by senior captain Rachel Card and freshmen Reagan Dickens with nine and 10 service aces, respectively. Sophomore Alex Sherles had the most kills of the evening with 10. Sophomore Beth Wyatt, who is currently replacing the injured Emily Lawless in the setter position, added 32 assists.
This win allowed the Lady Wildcats to advance to the semifinal match against rival Clinton High School.
“My players told me that they were hungry for Clinton and Anderson County.”
Well, hungry they were. Led by Card, who again had 13 aces against Clinton, and Sherles, who had a commanding 21 kills, the Lady Wildcats disptached the Clinton Lady Dragons in straight sets: 25-16, 25-17, and 25-21.
“The third set was a bit nerve-wracking for me. Clinton came out strong, and we had to fight our way back to win that third set.”
The district finals, which were at Central High School on Wednesday night, were against Anderson County. The Lady Mavericks got off to a strong start, beating the Lady Wildcats 19-25 in the first set.
But, the Lady Wildcats were hungry, and everyone on that floor played hard. The Lady Wildcats were able to turn around in the second set and beat ACHS 25-19, and subsequently won the next two sets 25-23 and 25-20.
Even though Sherles injured her ankle in Set #2, she continued to play strong, and she had the match-winning kill in the fourth set.
“Our defense was key in that match against Anderson County. They did not allow many balls to hit the floor, and there were some incredibly saves by Reagan Dickens and Rachel Loeffler. In fact, everyone played well. I could not be more proud of these player’s efforts and they deserved this win.”
The Lady Wildcats and Lady Mavericks will go on to play in the Regional Championship on Tuesday, October 14, at Bearden High School. Matches will start at 5:30 p.m. Bearden will face Anderson County, while Oak Ridge will face Farragut.
