Sports

Volleyball: Cougars Win Nail-Biter Over Rams

Oakton seeds first heading into Concorde District tournament

In the first two sets of Oakton High's last regular season game, it seemed as if the Cougars were on their way to an easy victory. But the Rams forced five sets, and the Cougars had to squeak out their win — the first victory against Robinson in school history — on Oakton's Senior Night.

The Cougars started out dominant, winning the first set 25-17 and the second set with a crushing 25-10 final score.

But then the Rams found their footing and forced a fourth set after besting the Cougars in a tight third that saw the Rams surge ahead just after the Cougars evened the score to 19-19. The Rams won the set 25-19.

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Heading into the third set, Coach Steve Drumm did not want to take the first two set wins for granted: "I was so happy we went up, and yes I wanted that sweep. But you just keep saying to yourself, 'We're playing out of our minds, and they can play so much better.' You just hope you can eke that game out, but it just didn't go our way," he said.

The Rams kept their momentum at the start of the fourth set to notch the first point, but the game tied six times and the lead changed hands thrice until the Rams pulled ahead 11-10 and never looked back. The Rams forced a fifth set after a 25-17 fourth-set victory.

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The drama continued throughout the fifth set with the game so close the teams tied seven times, with six lead changes. Down 14-12, the Cougars needed to be perfect for four straight plays to pull out the win, and so they were.

"I was screaming at my girls in game five to just believe. I could see on their face they were thinking 'Oh no, I'm going to make a mistake.' But I was just like, 'Don't be afraid of the mistake, be excited for the play," Drumm said.

This game is the second straight five-set match for the Cougars, as they fell to the Westfield Bulldogs on Tuesday 3-2.

"We've played a lot of game fives this year. And with the gym under construction for most of the year, we've played a lot of away games with everybody screaming at us and nobody on our side, so they're used to overcoming adversity," Drumm said.

No match against a Concorde District rival has been easy, he said, which is why he wants his girls to stay focused heading into the district tournament next week.

The Cougars (12-12) will enter the Concorde District Volleyball Tournament as the No. 1 seed having gone 4-1 in district play. They will have a bye in the first round. Their next match will be hosted at Centreville High at 5 p.m. Tuesday.


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