AIMING HIGH Oakwood stepping up their schedule in 2020
For the second straight season, Oakwood Christian Academy will field two separate volleyball programs, one who will play in Division I of the Georgia Association of Private and Parochial Schools (GAPPS), while the other will continue to compete in the Southern Christian Athletic Association (SCAA) has they have for a number of years.
Last year, in OCA’S first foray in the GAPPS league, the Lady Eagles won the Region 1 championship and opened the state tournament with a dominant win over Trinity Christian in straight sets. However, the Lady Eagles’ run would end in the state quarterfinals with a tough loss to Veritas Christian of Savannah.
Head coach Celina Green said playing on a bigger stage for the first time was a bit of a shock to her team’s system, so to combat that and get them ready for what she hopes will be another (and longer) post-season run, the coach has bulked up their schedule to include several well-established and successful public and private schools in the north Georgia and Chattanooga area.
The non-region portion of the 2020 slate includes the likes of Pepperell, Chattooga, Sonoraville, Gilmer, Morris Innovative, Murray County, LFO, Ringgold, Boyd-buchanan, Grace Baptist, Silverdale Baptist and Lookout Valley, in addition to Walker County foes Ridgeland, Lafayette and Gordon Lee.
She added that local matches will also help OCA cut down on so many longer trips to Atlanta and other cities further out from Chickamauga. The SCAA team will also face some of the aforementioned schools’ JV teams as part of doubleheaders on certain days.
“We’re just excited about the opportunity that these public schools are giving us,” Green said. “All of these games against these public schools will be on the road, so it will give us a chance to experience being in new places and playing teams that we’ve never played before. Hopefully, all these things will translate into us being ready to play in the state tournament, which is our goal.”
With all but one player returning from last season, the Lady Eagles will likely be a tough opponent for everyone on their schedule in 2020.
“We did lose (2019 senior) Lexie Asher and she had been a leader and a starter for years, but we’re working to fill that void right there,” Green explained. “I think we’re looking pretty good (for GAPPS) to do well in that region again. We’re looking go back to state.”
The Lady Eagles GAPPS squad will be led by four seniors this season.
Middle hitter Lily Green (128 kills, 51 blocks, 33 aces in 2019), an All-region and All-state player last year, and dependable outside hitter Olivia Guest (38 kills, 48 digs, 14 aces) were members of the GAPPS team a season ago and are both veterans with the Lady Eagles. Meanwhile, defensive specialist Raleigh Suits and defensive specialist/outside hitter Elliana Hammond have also both played a lot of volleyball at OCA and will play on the GAPPS team this season after seeing most of their action on the SCAA team a year ago.
Suits was a captain on last season’s SCAA team and Green said Hammond is perhaps the most improved all-around player in the program.
The coach added that the camaraderie between the seniors make it easy for them to lead.
“These four seniors are close at school and close out of school,” Green said. “They are going to be able to lead very well and they play other sports together too.”