GARLAND — The Grand Oaks volleyball team had already played longer than any team in program history when it took the court Friday at the Culwell Center.
The Grizzlies have outlasted most of the state, too. Include Prosper after a heart-stopping marathon.
Grand Oaks is somehow still playing after a 26-28, 12-25, 28-26, 25-22, 15-12 victory. The Grizzlies will play Cinco Ranch for the Class 6A championship at 5Â p.m. Saturday.
“That was insane,” Grand Oaks coach Morgan Rogers said. “I couldn’t be more proud. Being down two, we hadn’t been in that position during the regular season. To just breathe and just trust each other and fight the way they did after the second set was really impressive.”
Grand Oaks (49-1) trailed by two sets, faced match point in the third and trailed 10-4 in the fifth set. That did not stop the Grizzlies from getting their 23rd consecutive victory and a shot at the grand prize.
“It’s definitely surreal,” Grand Oaks sophomore Halle Thompson said. “I feel grateful that we’re put in this position and I’m able to do it with everyone.”
Grand Oaks trailed 10-5 in set one but emerged from a timeout with a different energy, sparked by Samara Coleman and Thompson. The Grizzlies regained the lead with a 10-1 run, punctuated by two kills and a block by Jaela Auguste.
Grand Oaks led 23-19 but could not close it out as Prosper answered with a 6-1 run, taking a 25-24 lead on an ace by Allie Duitsman. The Grizzlies held off set point twice, but Reese Renfow’s kill down the sideline ended it.
Prosper (37-10) controlled the second set, taking a 12-5 lead after a strong defensive series and a kill by Jayla Jackson. The advantage was 17-6 after a service reception error, an easy kill for Ayden Ames after an overpass and another Ames spike.
“Being our first time here, as excited as you can be, those nerves can be real,” Rogers said. “That goes for everybody on that floor. We just kept speaking to each other and being positive, trusting each other and making sure we just settled and breathed. We a little tight. Serve-receive struggle, we struggled on offense a little bit. We just stayed positive and stayed with each other.”
Caelyn Emmerling made an impact on the attack in set three, while Coleman built the early momentum.
The Grizzlies pulled ahead 15-10 after a forceful kill and two blocks by Auguste against Ames, her USA U19 teammate, brought the Grand Oaks supporters to their feet.
Set three was tied five times late, but the Grizzlies withstood a tense finish. Included was a clutch kill by Coleman to avert match point.
“They actually made an adjustment that third set,” Prosper coach Ashlee McCormick said. “They flipped their outsides, which we kind of saw. Any team that can get the ball through the middle is going to be a threat. We do it also, and that’s one of our big strengths is having two really good middles. They got the ball to her. We tried to get the block up and tried to do some things, but she’s a good player.”
The fourth set was close throughout, with a kill by Coleman and blocks by Auguste and Thompson helping the Grizzlies pull ahead 14-11.
Coleman later rallied them back to 20-20, while clutch plays by Emmerling forced a decisive set.
Prosper started quickly in the fifth, taking a 5-1 lead into a timeout on a combined block by Ames and Audrey Hunt. The lead was 10-4 before Grand Oaks could score consecutive points.
But then Auguste took over. A kill seemed to swing the momentum in Grand Oaks’ favor and she kept swinging, knotting the score at 10 and adding two more kills for a 13-11 lead.
Prosper’s final shot went long, bringing the Grand Oaks bench rushing to the court.
“I think we kind of figured out the flow of things,” Auguste said of the fifth set rally. “It was a lot for me to figure out what we were going to do and it was working, so we just kept doing it and doing it.”
The Grizzlies had four attackers in double figures as Thompson had 17 kills and Emmerling, Auguste and Coleman all tallied 14. Auguste hit .522 with six blocks, while Emmerling hit .462 with four blocks and Coleman served three aces.
Audrey Terry and Brooklyn Sheridan combined for 46 assists, while Cali Reece had 18 of Grand Oaks’ 78 digs.
Ames finished with 27 kills, 15 digs, four blocks and a .404 hitting percentage as part of a stellar performance. Reese Renfrow added 13 kills, while Hannah Beauford recorded 51 assists.
“We knew Ames was going to get hers and we had to make sure other people weren’t picking up for her,” Rogers said. “When she was back row, we talked about going on runs of points. That’s when we’re able to get Jaela involved in the offense and get her sets. I think we did a good job of balancing whenever Ames was back row and pushing those points into a lead.”
Propser ends an impressive season highlighted by its first 6A state tournament appearance. The Eagles were back in the final four for the first time since their 2017 5A state title.
“It obviously wasn’t the outcome we wanted, but we fought and we fought,” McCormick said. “We came in underestimated. I think a lot of teams underestimated us in this playoff run. We came out and we worked our butts off. Unfortunately our libero got hurt, and she’s missing two teeth now. We put it all on the line and it didn’t go our way.”
It took a comeback for the ages to eliminate Prosper. The win was still sinking in for Grand Oaks, with a championship match waiting.
“I’m very happy, still a little up in the clouds but very excited,” Reece said.
