Week 1 Games of the Week: 3A and 4A

<p>The 2021-22 volleyball season will be officially open starting next Monday, August 9th. We want to look at a game or two in week 1 that could help set the tone for their team’s season. </p> <p><strong>Community Christian @ Corn Bible Academy 08/10</strong></p> <p>This Tuesday night matchup consists of Corn Bible Academy and the reigning 3A state champ, Community Christian. Community Christian won 29 total games last season en route to the state title. They will be looking to get back to the title game with help from returners like senior MB [player_tooltip player_id="144113" first="Channing" last="Apel"] who is ranked #38 in the 2022 class and junior RH [player_tooltip player_id="145980" first="Ashlyn" last="Williams"] who is ranked #19 in the 2023 class. </p> <p><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Corn Bible Academy is located in western Oklahoma just south of I-40. Coach Basinger will be looking to start strong with a big upset out of the gate and get the crusaders back to the state tournament where they have been a staple in recent years. She will look to 2022 S Brooklen Roberts, 2023 MB Gabbie Clayton, and 2023 OH Chloe Nelson to do big things this season. </span></p> <p><strong>Holland Hall @ Metro Christian Academy 08/12</strong></p> <p>Thursday night will feature two teams that are both coming off a state tournament appearance. They will both be hungry to get back to the state tournament. Holland Hall will be looking to junior OH Macy Collier to continue to give them firepower upfront and senior Libero Claire Paris to put pressure on the opponent with her serving and digging abilities. </p> <p>Metro Christian Academy is in class 3A. They upset the #3 ranked team Chisholm last year to punch their ticket into the state tournament. They will be looking to senior Libero Carly Callaway, who does a fantastic job of being relentless for digs and strong from the service line. </p> <p><strong>Bishop Kelley @ Lincoln Christian 08/10</strong></p> <p>A huge matchup of some Tulsa area titans! Lincoln Christian and Bishop Kelley are BOTH coming off their 3rd straight state title. They will both be looking to replace a senior group that contributed to recent success. Both teams lost two all-state players, Emma Frette and Audrey Buford from Bishop Kelley and Abigail Cunningham and Hope Keltner from Lincoln Christian.</p> <p>Both teams will be looking to reload and get back to their fourth straight title match. There will be multiple top players in the state like [player_tooltip player_id="145966" first="Megan" last="Roy"] 2023 MB, [player_tooltip player_id="145992" first="Kristen" last="Lewallen"] 2023 OH, [player_tooltip player_id="144115" first="Eleanor" last="Percy"] 2022 MB, [player_tooltip player_id="145984" first="Jessica" last="Shildt"] 2023 DS, and one of the best 2024 players, OH Curry Kendal all playing in this massive matchup.</p> <p><strong>OKC Storm @ Regent Prep 08/10</strong></p> <p>We have a matchup of a strong west side team versus a strong east side team. One is a home school team that regularly wins the homeschool national championships at various age divisions. the other, a team that has only missed out on the state tournament 1 time since joining the OSSAA. Both bring immense success and a plethora of talent to the table.</p> <p>Regent Prep will be looking for 2023 OH [player_tooltip player_id="145983" first="Ella" last="Drake"] and 2022 OH [player_tooltip player_id="144088" first="Beth" last="Bayless"], both having huge arm swings that make it 6 rotations worth of hard-driven balls one after another. OKC Storm has players like the #1 ranked player in the class of 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="145960" first="Kady" last="Hansen"] and [player_tooltip player_id="144110" first="Kedron" last="Burk"] both at the MB position. This could very well come down to which team can slow the other down at the net. Look for both teams to try and serve tough to keep the other team’s offense at bay.</p>