GARLAND — The Grand Oaks volleyball team spent much of the season as the team to beat in Texas. The Grizzlies ended 2023 as the best as well.
Grand Oaks captured its first state championship, winning the Class 6A final 25-22, 25-23, 25-13 against Cinco Ranch on Saturday at the Curtis Culwell Center.
“It’s awesome,” Grand Oaks junior Samara Coleman said. “It almost feels surreal. This has been our goal since last year after we got out round two. This has been our dream.”
Grand Oaks completed a spectacular 50-1 season, including a memorable five-set rally to eliminate Prosper the night before.
There was no need for similar drama Saturday, though the Grizzlies came up clutch in the decisive points to build a two-set lead.
“We realized from last night’s match that we had to step on the gas and hit it hard before we get in the same situation as last night,” Grand Oaks senior Brooklyn Sheridan said.
The teams traded runs in a close first set. Grand Oaks led 9-5 after Halle Thompson hammered home an overpass. The Cougars (38-6) pulled ahead 14-12 and took a 20-17 lead after a kill by Shea Rainosek and two aces by Abby Borchardt.
Grand Oaks finished with an 8-2 run, including two kills by Coleman and a Kalin Wardell ace. Jaela Auguste closed the set with a tip.
“They have a lot of really good hitters, a lot of height and they’re very powerful,” Cinco Ranch coach Danielle Wells said. “They were putting the ball away and we couldn’t stop them. Our tallest person is our setter, who is six foot, so it’s kind of a battle at the net when you’ve got a lot of height over there.”
The Grizzlies kept their momentum early in the second set, taking a 6-2 lead behind Coleman and Caelyn Emmerling.
Cinco Ranch rallied to create another tense set, taking an 18-17 lead after a running dig by Maggie Finnegan and pulling ahead 23-22 after consecutive blocks by Emily Killam, the Cougars’ first two of the match.
But Coleman tied the set for Grand Oaks. After the Cougars were called for an alignment error, Emmerling spiked the winner.
Grand Oaks wasted little time closing in on the championship, taking a 7-0 lead with the help of a key dig by Audrey Terry and kills by Thompson, Emmerling and Coleman, who added two early aces on her way to six for the match.
“I couldn’t get them easy balls,” Coleman said. “I had to get aggressive, over the net and make it purposeful.”
The Grizzlies pushed their lead to 12-2 and maintained a commanding advantage, sprinting toward match point when two kills by Thompson produced a 24-11 lead. A service error ended the match, starting a championship celebration.
“We were really just trying to push points to make it as big as possible and I think we did a really good job of that,” Emmerling said.
Coleman finished with 13 kills, while Thompson had 15 kills and eight digs and Emmerling hit .500 with eight kills.
Jonaida Donowa contributed a team-high six blocks, as well as four kills to a strong performance at the net that helped hold Cinco Ranch to a .110 hitting percentage.
“My blockers step up huge in big moments all the time,” Grand Oaks coach Morgan Rogers said. “Caelyn Emmerling on the right side is a beast, is a monster. She showed that the last two nights. Jaela, of course, is going to be up there as well. That’s what they’ve been doing all season and it was impressive.”
Grand Oaks hit .219 as a team, with Terry and Brooklynn Sheridan combining for 32 assists. Cali Reece and Terry had a match-high 12 digs.
Gabriella Martinez led the Cougars with 11 kills as Kassie O’Brien recorded a match-high 20 assists. Finnegan led with 10 digs, while Makenna Loo added nine digs and four kills.
The Cougars played in their first state final, making their first state tournament appearance since 2009. They followed the Region III-6A championship with a four-set semifinal win against Northside Harlan.
“Getting this far was a blessing,” Wells said. “We told the girls we went as we expected to go. Grand Oaks is ranked No. 1 for a reason. Just to make it to the state tournament is amazing for us and to beat Harlan was another great game for us. We didn’t know how that game was going to go. I thought they did a great job coming out and fighting against Harlan and we tried to put up a fight against Grand Oaks.”
A talented Grand Oaks team delivered on its preseason expectations, including a group of 11 seniors who closed their varsity careers as champions.
“Right now I’m still up in the clouds,” Emmerling said. “It’s a crazy feeling, but especially as a senior it’s a bunch of mixed emotions. But it’s a great ending to end all my four years of high school.”
