Katy Jordan opens 6A tenure with impressive win over Cy Woods

FULSHEAR — Katy Jordan’s initial foray into Class 6A was an impressive one.

The Warriors’ volleyball team topped a quality Cy Woods club 3-1 (21-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-19) in its season-opener at home Tuesday evening, showing off a dynamic 1-2 punch in senior Ella Folse and junior Ella Koch, and promising young talent at the net.

Jordan, which opened its doors in 2020, is making the move up to 6A this year. The Warriors went 19-19 in District 19-5A last season, finishing fifth in a competitive district.

“It’s super exciting to step up from a great, tough 5A district to be able to play with our fellow Katy ISD (in one district),” said Folse, a Sam Houston State commit who had 15 kills and six aces to lead Jordan. “We’re excited for the challenge. We know it’s going to be tough but we’re working hard to get a playoff spot.”

Jordan dropped the first set as errors and the attacking skills of seniors Emily Schaper (three kills, two aces) and Jordan Columbus (three kills) ran roughshod.

In the second set, however, Folse took over. The 6-foot-1 outside hitter had three kills and five aces as the Warriors jumped out to a 13-2 lead.

At one point, Folse served on nine consecutive points for the Warriors. She said she is stronger on her feet this season, getting on top of the ball rather than just overrunning it, and staying low on defense.

Folse is also in a better place mentally. She gives positive self-talks before every game.

“She’s been huge but not just on the court,” Jordan coach Jennifer Vaden said of her star player. “She’s been so important off the court with being a leader and buying in. She’s a right-side and I changed her to a six-rotation outside (hitter) last year, and you have to have a lot of trust in me to see it and stick with it. She just figures things out. She’s someone who picks people up and really does well embracing an environment that frees up and allows kids to make mistakes and not get upset about it.”

The Warriors were hardly threatened the rest of the way aside from a brief stretch in the fourth set, when the Wildcats rallied from a 17-11 deficit to tie it at 18-18. But Jordan closed the game on a 5-1 run to seal the deal, thanks to terrific play at the net from Damisi Osibodu, Abbie O’Shea and Addison Oglesby.

“We’re really good at turning a run around and getting out of a rut really quickly,” Folse said. “We had great energy on the court. We did a great job of getting in and out of huddles and resetting.”

Cy Woods graduated eight seniors from last year’s 33-12 regional quarterfinalist team. But Jordan fosters a young roster.

Two sophomores, Osibodu and O’Shea, and two freshmen, Emmy Nicholas and Ava Ribakovs, saw substantial playing time Tuesday. Osibodu and O’Shea each has a reach of almost 10 feet, Nicholas is impactful as a defensive specialist and Ribakovs flashed a lot of skill as a right-side setter.

Koch had 11 kills and two blocks. O’Shea had eight kills and two blocks. Osibodu had five kills, five blocks and two aces.

“We have a brand new team,” Folse said. “Everyone is coming in together. We’ve really been working on defense, big, out-of-system, covering … we know everyone will have big blocks in 6A and big swings. We’re ready for that and training hard.”

Vaden said her team has to be more disciplined on the blocks and on defense but she’s confident it will come.

There is so much to like right now.

One thing is the culture.

“We talk about how important every day is, from how we work to how we hustle in practice,” Vaden said. “Everything we do puts us in a position to come out here and be able to execute, even while young. We take intentional reps that starts in the spring but also means being smart in club and all of that. We get a chance to be a first-time varsity in 6A, so what are we going to do? How do we keep that purpose every time we get in the gym? If you can do it in a gym in practice, you can find a way to do it when the games are real.”

Another thing, as a byproduct of said culture, is leadership. Vaden has a difficult time singling out any one player, or players, as leaders.

It’s everyone.

“We do a district-wide spring leadership (program) of captains, and I take my whole returning varsity because they need to know what a real leader looks like,” Vaden said. “They keep each other accountable, which is really hard in high school. There is a vision here that everybody is valuable on this team, and everybody is pushing everybody.”