District 13-6A Volleyball: Willis Pushes Into Playoff Chase as Grand Oaks Streak Reaches 67

Wildkats have answered an 0-4 district start with three straight wins, but the road to the postseason now runs through the top four as District 13-6A begins its second trip through the schedule.

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — The first half of the District 13-6A volleyball schedule has produced a clearly defined top four, but Willis has made sure the postseason race is not closed.

Grand Oaks completed the first trip through district unbeaten at 7-0, followed by College Park at 6-1, The Woodlands at 5-2 and Oak Ridge at 4-3. Willis sits one match outside the playoff positions at 3-4 after winning three straight.

That turnaround is what makes Willis the team to watch as the second half begins Friday.

The Wildkats opened district 0-4, including a five-set loss to Oak Ridge on Sept. 18. Since then, they have swept Cleveland, Caney Creek and Conroe to cut the deficit between themselves and fourth-place Oak Ridge to one match. Junior outside hitter Kennadie Gibson had 13 kills while hitting .722 in the sweep of Cleveland, and Willis followed by beating Caney Creek 3-0 before Tuesday's 3-0 victory at Conroe.

The challenge now changes considerably.

Willis has already collected the wins it needed against three teams below it in the standings. To seriously alter the playoff picture, the Wildkats will need to take matches from teams currently occupying postseason positions. Their first opportunity comes immediately when second-place College Park visits Friday.

College Park has quietly rebuilt momentum after its only district loss, the five-set match at Grand Oaks on Sept. 22. The Cavaliers swept Oak Ridge on Friday and Caney Creek on Tuesday, improving to 6-1 in district play. College Park has also won seven of its last eight matches overall. Junior Skylan Johnson leads the Cavaliers at 2.9 kills per set, while junior middle Hailey Tinnell is hitting .375.

For Willis, Friday is more than an opportunity to extend a winning streak. A victory would pull the Wildkats closer to the leaders while giving them the type of head-to-head result that has been missing from their district résumé. A loss would leave Willis needing to make up ground later against Grand Oaks, The Woodlands or Oak Ridge while also protecting itself against the teams behind it.

Oak Ridge, meanwhile, has the immediate advantage in that race. The War Eagles are 4-3 despite consecutive losses to College Park and The Woodlands and return home Friday to face winless Cleveland.

The Woodlands strengthened its position Tuesday with a 3-1 victory over Oak Ridge. The Highlanders won 25-20, 25-20, 14-25, 25-16 behind 38 assists and 11 digs from junior Mya Dickerson and 17 digs from senior Olivia Hertel. The Woodlands has won four of its last five matches and travels to 1-6 Caney Creek on Friday.

At the top, Grand Oaks continues to separate itself from the field.

The Grizzlies handled Cleveland 25-7, 25-8, 25-7 Tuesday, completing an undefeated first half of district play and extending a district winning streak that now stands at 67 consecutive regular-season matches. Grand Oaks has survived its two biggest challenges of the district season in five sets, rallying past College Park and then winning at The Woodlands three days later.

Grand Oaks hosts Conroe on Friday looking for district victory No. 68.

Friday also presents an unusual clean split in the schedule: each of the current top four plays one of the bottom four. Grand Oaks faces Conroe, College Park travels to Willis, The Woodlands visits Caney Creek and Oak Ridge hosts Cleveland.

The standings suggest advantages for all four teams currently above the playoff line, but College Park-Willis carries the greatest potential to change the race. With seven district matches remaining, Willis has worked itself back into contention. Its next step is different from the last three.

The Wildkats have beaten the teams behind them.

Now they need to beat somebody ahead of them.