Six Oak Hall School volleyball seniors were honored after their match against visiting Williston on Tuesday night.
It followed a 25-17, 26-6, 23-25, 25-18 win against the Red Devils on Senior Night.
“It feels really great,” said senior defensive specialist Sarah Miller. “I’m so happy. We had a great turnout. We had a great game. They (Williston) played amazing and I’m kind of happy we went to four because it lasted longer…I had a lot of fun.”
The host Eagles (14-2) took an early 7-5 lead in the opening set but a kill by Williston senior Julissa Thomas and an ace by senior Chanitey James (4 aces) tied the match at 7-apiece.
OHS junior Hannah Timm (11 kills) had bookend kills as part of a 6-0 run, with senior libero Sophie Thompson adding an ace and five service points for a 13-7 advantage.
It was a lead they would not relinquish in a 25-17 win in the opening set.
The Eagles jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the second set behind senior Cassidy McDonald’s seven service points.
“That was humongous,” said Oak Hall coach Perry McDonald. “I thought that was one of those moments where you establish some extraordinarily strong momentum and that just put us on our way to run away with set two.”
She had three aces during the run and five of her six aces came in the second set.
“We’re working on the serve,” Perry McDonald said of his daughter. “It’s a work in progress. I thought she was absolutely brilliant with some of the short serves that she tossed out there. They were dropping a foot or so past the tape line and very effective and I think when she has that combination of being able to work people short/deep it keeps the receive on the other side off balance and as a result makes their offense a lot less effective.”
Cassidy McDonald filled up the stat sheet with 33 assists, 17 service points, six aces, six digs, and four kills.
“It was definitely a challenge because Williston played a really, really good game but I think the girls pulled through,” she said. “It was very fun, especially because we had a big crowd and it was fun to have everyone here, but Williston did a hell of a good job playing against us, so yeah definitely made it uncomfortable for us at times.”
Despite being down 2-0, Williston rallied to win the third set.
Junior middle hitter Kai Gowland had a pair of kills to spark a 6-0 run as the Red Devils (5-10) took their biggest lead of the night at 20-16.
Oak Hall rallied to tie it at 23-23 but Williston scored the next two to get back into the match down 2-1.
“The biggest thing is just sticking together, having eye level energy, communication and effort,” said first-year Williston coach Daniel Gutierrez. “Those are the biggest things that I try to push with this program and they’re really showing out. I think they kind of get in a slump sometimes but when they find the unity and cohesion, that’s when they start performing their best. It doesn’t matter who is on the other side because we’ll fight to the end.”
The momentum carried over into the fourth set as Williston grabbed a quick 4-1 lead. The game see-sawed back-and-forth and was tied seven times, including the final time at 15-apiece.
“Give Williston props,” Perry McDonald said. “They didn’t back down. They served effectively. They created some problems for us. I think this was one of those where they punched us in the face very successfully and we struggled to come through and find the stable performance that we needed to in set three when they came back but thank goodness we were able to come through and get it done in set four.”
Following a kill by Gowland to move within four at 22-18, OHS sophomore Kendylle Bishop (10 kills, 5 service points, 4 aces) had a kill to swing the momentum back to the burgundy, gold and white.
It was probably fitting that the final point of the night came on an ace by senior Sara Duggan to send the Class of 2025 out with a win in their final regular season game together.
The celebration was short-lived as Perry McDonald quickly turned his attention to next week’s Class 2A-District 1 tournament, which the Eagles will host.
“I think we’ve got our work cut out for us,” he said. “We’re going to have a really competitive district tournament and I’m really curious to see how the seeding comes together. I think P.K. always plays us tough, I think Maclay (Tallahassee) is going to be an extraordinarily challenging team to beat and that’s one we want to make sure we come through and really bring our A game on.”
Williston should be a No. 1 seed in Rural District 7 when the FHSAA announces the seedings on Wednesday. The highest seeds will host each round.
