Early season is like a roller coaster
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Oak Ridge’s Christian McGinnis goes up to block a Signal Mountain shot last week at Catholic High during a three-way match. - Ken Leinart
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Oak Ridge senior Peyton Uptgraft leads a cheer with her teammates during a break in action during the three-way match with Catholic High School and Signal Mountain. - Ken Leinart
Oak Ridge High School, the defending District 3-AAA volleyball tournament champion, has endured a rollercoaster ride of a season in 2023.
The Lady Wildcats opened the week on Tuesday, Aug. 22, with a district road win against Knoxville Halls, prevailing 25-22, 25-19, 14-25, 28-26 over the Lady Devils.
The following night, Oak Ridge (4-7, 3-0 in District 3-3A) dropped a pair of non-league matches, falling to Signal Mountain (25-16, 25-21) and Knoxville Catholic (25-6, 25-11) at Knoxville Catholic High School.
Oak Ridge Coach Audrey Sherles, had mixed feelings following the two matches in West Knoxville on Wednesday, Aug. 23.
“The things that we did well against Signal Mounatin, we didn’t do well against Catholic,” she said. “We had a bunch of serve receiving errors and hitting errors against Catholic, and we didn’t play very well.
“But the good thing about this, is that we get to come back and play again tomorrow.”
The Lady Wildcats, who have wins against Carter, Powell, the Lady Devils and Knoxville Central, returned to action at Wildcat Arena Thursday night and defeated the Lady Bobcats in five sets.
Oak Ridge hosted Clinton on Tuesday in a showdown for sole possession of first place in the district, but results were not available at press time.
The Lady Wildcats travel to Karns for another district match Thursday. First serve slated for 6 p.m.