Advance VB ends Oak Ridge’s magical run at Class 1 state tournament

The Advance Lady Hornets celebrate after a match-clinching point to sweep Oak Ridge 3-0 in the sectional round of the 2024 Class 1 State Volleyball Championships. Advance will host Bernie in the state quarterfinals on Saturday.

Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

OAK RIDGE — As the Advance girls volleyball legacy lives on, the Oak Ridge Bluejays' dream season — one that featured an unprecedented October uprising by a program that captured its first-ever district volleyball championship — ended on their home court on Thursday night.

Staring down a two-set lead against an underdog that seemed nothing short of blessed during the Class 1 state tournament, Advance clamped down on Oak Ridge in the sectional round and vanquished its aspirations behind a 3-0 sweep (25-21, 25-10, 25-11).

“Our word this year was ‘challenged,’” tenth-year Advance head coach Erin Hoffman said. “We lost a big part of our team to graduation last year. So, our word this year is ‘challenged’ because they are challenging themselves to continue the legacy that the groups before them have created.”

So far so good.

Advance, the two-time defending Class 1 state champions, raced out to a 13-4 lead in the opening set behind sharp serving and utter control at the frontline. The Lady Hornets kept the pressure on the host Bluejays when junior Brogan Hawkins notched an ace to make it 19-11, inducing an Oak Ridge timeout. The stoppage seemed to give the Bluejays quite the mental reset, though, as they responded with a 9-1 run to cut the deficit to 20-19 within the blink of an eye. The momentum did not last, however, as Advance sophomore Cashlynn Sturgeon’s kill cemented a 25-21 win.

Set 2 was all Advance from start to finish as Hoffman’s squad sprinted to a 16-7 advantage in a matter of minutes behind sophomore Olivia Kennedy and company’s dominance at the net. Up 23-10, Sturgeon forced a match-point after spiking the ball off Oak Ridge junior Kinsley Bogenpohl’s hands for a point. Moments later, the Lady Hornets captured the set, 25-10, following a controversial call on an Advance kill that appeared to land out of bounds before the officials ruled it a point, which sent a raucous Oak Ridge crowd into an uproar.

The third and final set was nearly a foil of Set 2, as Advance jumped out to a commanding lead midway through the frame and never looked back. The Bluejays’ unforgettable October was put to rest when an Oak Ridge hit soared beyond the Lady Hornets’ end line, securing Advance’s Class 1 state quarterfinal match against Bernie (19-9-3) on Saturday.

The highly-anticipated showdown against the District 2 champions, who Advance swept 3-0 back in September, will be played beneath a spotlight that has belonged to the Lady Hornets and Hoffman for nearly a decade.

“They actually do really well when people doubt them,” said Hoffman of her team. “I think that's been a big thing this year because of the group we lost. And I think they're a group that will like to prove people wrong. They self-motivate each other and they team-motivate each other. I don't have to do any numbers, they take care of that.”

Behind Oak Ridge’s historic run

Other than a 23-9-1 campaign in the 2018 season, Oak Ridge had never won more than 17 games on the court, but that changed this year, thanks to a roster that featured stars such as standout senior Reagan Howe, promising freshman Kaelyn Deckerd, junior Jayleigh Price and Bogenpohl.

These Bluejays tore through the District 4 tournament, outscoring their opposition 9-3 in three rounds of action, including a 3-1 win over reigning District 5 champ New Haven in the district finals, to take home the title.

“The girls, throughout this season, had different goals for themselves and districts, of course, was one of the bigger ones,” head coach Starla Pulley said. “They worked really hard all year and started building from last year into this year, and every game started getting a little bit better. I just couldn't be more proud of them.”

A tough opening-round draw against a Class 1 powerhouse presented an obvious tall task — one that Pulley and her squad made sure to not back down from.

“Something that we've been trying to work on is the mental aspect of the game,” Pulley said. “Just trying to build up that confidence. Advance has been in this situation before, so with this being our first year playing in that type of arena, getting them to be comfortable and confident and being able to go out, take care of the ball, and then just relax and not play tight was important. It's hard when you haven't really been in that situation.”

While Oak Ridge could not conjure the upset and keep its state title hopes alive in front of a jam-packed blue and white home crowd, the epic feel-good story is one that could bleed into next season and beyond.

While the team loses its driving force in the six-foot middle hitter Howe, as well as three other seniors, Oak Ridge will return four starters next season, including Deckerd, Bogenpohl and Price.

"Just getting the girls to come in and touch the ball this offseason is huge," Pulley said. "A lot of girls at other schools play club ball and we don’t really have that here. So, just getting the girls to see the importance of offseason work and not waiting until June when we get back in the gym is the big thing.”