Wade Era gets off to successful start
Highlanders take first tourney under new coach, hope to keep rolling
The Terri Wade era at The Woodlands is off to a good start.
The Highlanders won their first tournament under Wade, securing the gold championship at the Katy/Cy-Fair ISD Nike Classic last weekend.
They beat Cy-Fair in four games in the final Saturday at Cypress Woods.
“There are big expectations for this team, so I feel like they were really setting the way with this first tournament,” Wade said.
Wade said their defense improved throughout the tourney, helping them take straight-sets wins over elite clubs in Klein, Jersey Village and Cy Ranch. The Highlanders edged Cinco Ranch in four sets.
The win over Cinco sent them to the championship match.
“We were getting better and better defensively,” Wade said. “We definitely faced good competition each game, and so everybody brought really good hitters and my blockers were pushed, and defense just really stepped up.”
The tournament run sent The Woodlands to 8-1 on the young season, proving it’s still formidable despite a regime change.
Former coach Leslie Madison left for Magnolia after leading The Woodlands to their second consecutive state championship last year.
“There are definitely things that we can get better at,” Wade said. “But as far as coming together as a team, it clicked during the tournament.” The clincher was a gutsy performance against a Bobcats team that won 31 games and a title last season. The Woodlands won 21-25, 259, 26-24, 25-23.
“We lost the first set so we had to fight each game, and they even rallied on us several points, where we would have to come back, so it was a fight the entire match,” Wade said. “But our defense had stepped up so much that our offense had to really turn it on and help win that game for us.”
Senior Hannah Hickman was named tournament MVP.
The Woodlands returns to action this week at the three-day Magnolia VolleyBattle tournament.
It is in Pool A with Hutto, St. Stephens and Willis. It opens against St. Stephens at 8 a.m. Thursday at Magnolia. The championship match is set for 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
“I hope that they can keep it going,” Wade said. “With this team chemistry we’ve started to build, I hope they’ll feel comfortable in the things we’ve gotten to work on in practice.”
They’ve already proven a drop-off in Year 1 under Wade is unlikely.
“They definitely feel like a new team,” Wade said. “They’re not the same team that stepped on the court last year, so they have a lot to prove as well, that they can continue the tradition and be competitive.”