Oak Ridge sweeps College Park
OAK RIDGE NORTH — Natalie Martin had 13 kills and five aces to help lead Oak Ridge to a 25-16, 25-7, 25-14 win over College Park in District 12-6A action on Friday at Oak Ridge High School.
The No. 7 state-ranked Lady War Eagles (27-4, 7-1) used an aggressive offense to rattle the crosstown Lady Cavaliers.
“I thought this was one of our most well played matches all year,” Oak Ridge coach Tommy Lynn Sledge said. “We were really aggressive on our serve and that kind of kept them from being able to set up their offense.”
Lady War Eagle senior Carly Graham had 28 assists and nine kills. Her last kill ended the match as the Lady War Eagles took the third set 25-14.
College Park (22-7, 5-3) kept things close for the first set before Oak Ridge kicked it into gear to earn the sweep.
Madi Diaz led College Park with six kills. Mackenzie Nunes had 12 assists while CC Clausen added 21 digs.
“I think the girls are a little disappointed,” College Park coach Candice Gibson. “We really didn’t play up to our potential. Oak Ridge is a great team and they showed it tonight.”
College Park knotted things up at 14-14 in the first set before a 11-2 run by Oak Ridge closed gave the Lady War Eagles an early lead in the match with a 2516 Set 1 win.
The momentum carried over to the second set where Oak Ridge jumped out to a 12-6 lead before rattling off 11 consecutive points with Martin serving. Martin had three aces during that run. College Park would salvage another point before falling in the third set 25-7.
“College Park is a very good team,” Sledge said. “I think the way we served really opened things up for us. We kept them on their toes and had them chasing at times. That was really the key.”
Brianna Rhodes added eight kills for Oak Ridge. Shea Green had seven kills while Kenzie Arent had 20 digs and Ashlyn Cianciulli had 16 digs.
Oak Ridge is fresh off beating No. 2 state-ranked The Woodlands on Tuesday and the Lady War Eagles were far from a let down after the big victory.
“(Beating The Woodlands) was a great win for us but we have a mature group of girls who know that you have to move on to the next one,” Sledge said. “That’s what they showed tonight and really came out and took care of business.”