On the rise
Sledge has Oak Ridge focused on first tournament trip since 1999
A surreal playoff run has Molly Russell and the War Eagles in the state tournament. They face Fort Bend Austin (45-2) in the Class 6A semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday at the Curtis Culwell Center
in Garland.
Oak Ridge maintained a steady approach.
Players continued to work hard at improving, in games and in practices, and their coaches kept them focused.
Now a surreal playoff run has the War Eagles in the state tournament.
They face Fort Bend Austin (45-2) in the Class 6A semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland.
“The kids have been very calm, they’ve really taken every game one game at a time, and that was our goal the whole time,” coach Tommie Lynne Sledge said.
The seventh-year coach knew going into the playoffs this type of run was possible.
“Through district, and competing the way we did in tournaments, even early in the season, these girls had a feel, but they kept getting better chemistry-wise,” Sledge said. “And once we won the first playoff game, every game after that they knew wasn’t guaranteed, so they played together, set high goals and were able to accomplish them.”
Oak Ridge (35-6) ousted Klein, Round Rock, Austin Westlake and Highland Park to reach the Region II-6A final.
The first-round win over Klein was pivotal because Oak Ridge lost that one last year.
“They were some good teams, and that just kept giving us more and more confidence along the way,” Sledge said.
Then came the inevitable rematch with backto-back defending state champ The Woodlands.
“That was probably one of the most exciting things for the girls,” Sledge said.
“We had a goal from the very beginning of the season, a preseason goal, to sweep The Woodlands, and who would have thought that we would have not been able to hit that goal through district, and then be able to do it in the regional final.
“It’s just another thing that I can teach my kids, about always keeping your goals out in front of you because you never know when you’re going to get that opportunity to reach them.”
Oak Ridge beat The Woodlands the first time they met this season.
But then the Highlanders won the next three meetings, including both in district and in the Magnolia tourney final.
“The first time we beat them, they came in a little relaxed,” Sledge said. “They didn’t have a great game, and we played a really good game. And then when we saw them in that tournament in the finals, it was almost the exact opposite. They had a really good game and we didn’t play as well.
“In district, I really felt they were competitive games, but when you look at the scores through district, we lost some games 25-23 or 28-26, and that really shifted the momentum in those matches. So if those points would have fallen different, the match could have possibly gone different.”
Everything fell their way in the regional – a three-set sweep of their nemesis.
“We stayed consistent and made adjustments from timeouts and different games,” Sledge said. “We served very tough, kept them on their toes, going short and deep, and then had a block up on a lot of their hitters and never let that waver.”
Now the War Eagles are state qualifiers for the first time in 16 years.
They were a Class 4A team back then, in 1999, when they beat New Braunfels Canyon in the semis and lost to Hereford in the final.
“This is something that I always thought about and dreamed about and talked about,” Sledge said. “As a coach, you never take this for granted. The kids don’t know any different, but this could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
“Coaches work hard and players work hard and sometimes never reach this goal.”
Sledge credited the support from the Oak Ridge community for helping make this playoff run.
“The way that the community and the fans have really surrounded us made such a difference in our game, and for the girls, as well as myself, to continue to push to make our community proud, because they really have been so supportive through this process, and I’ve just seen it grow,” Sledge said.
They’ll need that support in Garland.
The Bulldogs boast 11 seniors and five players committed to play in college, including defensive specialist Julia Whitehead (SFA), middle blocker Erin Mulcahey (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) and setter Erin Anthony (San Francisco).
“We’re not doing much different,” Sledge said.
“Like we’ve done before, we’re studying ourselves on video, seeing what we can get better at. We’re actually making sure we’re healthy and talking about that, and keeping that our main focus.”