Ella Lewis is a talented leftover member of a Woodlands volleyball team that reached the UIL Class 6A final four last year.
Nine seniors are gone, so when Lewis looks around her, it’s a different feel. Different blockers. Different defensive specialists. Different setter. Different hitters.
Lewis carried over her talent as a junior and has been huge for the Highlanders through two weeks of the season. She had a monster night Tuesday at Oak Ridge.
Lewis totaled 30 kills and had a .319 hitting percentage as The Woodlands won the District 13-6A opener 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 26-24.
The Woodlands (12-8) has won 10 straight over Oak Ridge (14-7). In the past decade, the two Conroe ISD programs have produced six state tournament teams.
“They just all fell in today,” Lewis said. “It happens sometimes. I hit like maybe two out, and that never happens.”
The Woodlands ninth-year coach Terri Wade was thrilled to see such a performance out of Lewis, who has been on varsity since her freshman year and eclipsed the 1,000 career kill mark last week.
“It’s a big role as a junior,” Wade said of Lewis, who already had 204 kills on the season coming in. “You are the leader on the court. She’s in all six rotations, and she’s fighting it out. And she’s just a junior. We’ve put a lot of pressure on her there, but she’s handling it very well.”
As for the match, it was a good one. The Woodlands and Oak Ridge played to 32 ties and 11 lead changes.
Oak Ridge, which missed the playoffs last year, started the evening on a 7-2 run.
“I feel that my girls were confident coming in,” Oak Ridge coach Tommie Lynne Sledge said. “They were leading the first game from the very beginning. That’s not something that we’ve always fought to do. I don’t think they ever let down.”
The Woodlands rallied, and the teams went back-and-forth over the rest of the set before the Highlanders pulled out the four-point win.
Oak Ridge, which was swept in both meetings with the Highlanders last year, took the second set. All night long, sophomore Gaby Santiago and senior middle Luvina Oguntimehin provided kills and blocks. Freshman middle Micah Rusher also made some big blocks to tie the match.
The Woodlands carried the third set before a fourth set that featured 12 more ties and three lead changes.
“Playing away and getting the win is a big thing,” Wade said. “We both have young players, and we’ve had some ups and downs. It felt like a really well-matched game with all our newcomers on the court. Definitely intense. It was relieving to get that win.”
Sasha Bespaly added nine kills and three blocks for the Highlanders, while Mia Zepeda had eight. Megan Johnson had a double-double of 25 assists and 11 digs. Cameron McDaniel had 35 digs and Ava Gibbs 22.
“It was a confidence booster,” Lewis said. “We haven’t done the best in our tournaments. Winning the first district game is a great boost.”
As The Woodlands battles to cement chemistry with a mostly new varsity roster, growing pains have occurred. The team took just 10 losses last year and is already at eight in the third week of August. It placed 11th at the John Turner Classic two weeks back and 18th at the Northwest ISD Tournament this past weekend.
“We’ve been very inconsistent,” Wade said. “We have an amazing win over Highland Park and didn’t drop a set against them. And then we play another team that isn’t the same caliber and battle back and forth. I think it does take awhile when you have a lot of new players on the court and — two returning starters out there — to figure it out.”
The Woodlands travels to its final tournament of the season Thursday in Leander.
Santiago had 16 kills for Oak Ridge, while Leila Ceaser had 10 and Oguntimehin eight. Lily Campos had 28 digs, while Santiago had 20 for the double-double. Bradi Rhodes entered the match with 287 assists and added 39 more against the Highlanders.
Oak Ridge won 24 games last year and has seen steady improvements already. The War Eagles won a consolation flight at the Katy-Cy Fair Tournament two weeks back and were third place at the Huntsville Invitational last weekend with a 7-2 record over three days.
“They’re competing,” Sledge said. “It was great to see. The team (Royse City) that beat us won the championship. And it was a battle. We lost 26-24, 28-26. Just a few of those points roll over and something different, and we are back in it.”
With a roster of four seniors, two juniors and seven underclassmen, Sledge is happy with the trajectory of this team so far.
“The girls put in a tough offseason last year, and I love seeing them competing and putting the work into it,” Sledge said. “We have some great dynamics on this team that work well together. They enjoy being around each other, and they are like a family. I appreciate that, and it makes it fun to coach.”
Oak Ridge heads to the Dayton Invitational starting Thursday.
