The #7 Oak Ridge High School Lady Wildcat Volleyball Team took their frustrations from Tuesday night’s loss out on Powell High School on the road Thursday night. “This was a good bounce back match from our loss on Tuesday,” said Wildcat Head Coach Dave Kolodney. “It gave us a chance to get all players involved and in a substantive way.” The Lady ‘Cats depth has stood the test all season long, even without Tuesday’s player of the match, Genevieve Krass, who did not play. “Our goal is to play deep into October, but that doesn’t happen without taking care of business within the district first,” Kolodney continued; and take care of business they did: Behind Oak Ridge’s nearly impeccable defense, the Lady Wildcats easily swept past Powell (25-7, 25-3, 25-8). Junior Libero Marybeth Luby delivered 12 Digs, and Oak Ridge tied a season-high 5 Blocks at the net. “We were able to correct some of the mistakes we made against Catholic and work on some new things that I’ve been wanting to try in a game setting,” Kolodney stated. Those things appeared to add value as the ‘Cats offense looked equally as good with Junior Ainsley Patrick delivering a team high 14 Kills and 4 Aces, and Junior Paige Halcrow providing 16 Assists and 7 Digs, putting her over 100 Digs for the season. Ipek Ozcan was named Player of the Match for giving the Lady ‘Cats 2 Blocks (Team High) and Hitting at a 67% Kill rate. “I’ve been waiting for Ipek to have a match like this,” Kolodney said of his Sophomore Middle Blocker. “[I was] glad she was able to show the middle skills that I knew she had.” Ozcan’s touches at the net helped the Lady Wildcats sideout at over 80%. “This was a good one to finish the week and lead into a busy next week that already includes the start of the second half of the season,” Kolodney finished.
The Lady Wildcats notch their 10th victory of the season (10-2) and remain undefeated in District 4-AAA play (5-0). Oak Ridge returns to the court for 3 home matches next week. Monday, the Lady ‘Cats face Regional opponent Hardin Valley Academy, while Tuesday and Wednesday they host District rivals Karns and Bearden respectively. The conclusion of Tuesday night’s match will mark the halfway point of the 2019 season.
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