Week 1 Tournaments to Watch

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Let's take a look at two tournaments from week one that will start to separate teams early on. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Norman High Tournament</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This tournament has turned into one heck of an early battleground. More and more top level teams are joining this tournament in hopes of getting some quality matches early in the season. Here are the seedings for the tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><li>Norman North</li><li>Edmond Santa Fe</li><li>Broken Arrow</li><li>Community Christian</li><li>Deer Creek</li><li>Edmond North</li><li>Mustang</li><li>Norman</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Norman North</em> is the 6A Runner up from last year and has a ton of firepower returning. Players like <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='145968' first='Riley' last='Roberts']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='145961' first='Katie' last='Kolar']</strong> will likely be in the mix for all state selection. Both are setters and sometimes hit right side as well. Both have also committed to play college volleyball. Kolar is going to West Virginia and Roberts is going to University of Central Oklahoma. Add in the likes of Sr OH <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='145971' first='Abigail' last='Gray']</strong>, JR MB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='156872' first='Parker' last='Gladhill']</strong>, and Sr MB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='176369' first='Kassidy' last='Dominic']</strong>, they will be a very seasoned and hungry team to start the year strong. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Edmond Santa Fe</em> lost a strong senior class but long time head coach, Will Ethridge, will always get the most out of his program. The young guns will be thrown into the fire early this year but I believe they will forged rather than burned by it.<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='176366' first='Gianna' last='Adriaanse']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='145988' first='Addison' last='Banes']</strong> will be players they look to lean on in tough times. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Broken Arrow</em> also lost a solid senior class and has quite a few young players in the starting line up. <strong>Lauren Harms</strong> is playing great defense this summer and has taken her offensive game to another level over this past club season. They will be strong in serve receive and in defense with Harms and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='156851' first='Avery' last='Jones']</strong> patrolling in the back court. Look for <strong>Allison Buenzow</strong> on the right side to help balance the offense, she has just committed to play at John Brown University.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Community Christian</em> has the OH Duo of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='156859' first='Landry' last='Braziel']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='156864' first='Victoria' last='Gray']</strong>. Both can flat out play! This team may only be 4A but I'm betting they make some waves with some big wins here in Norman. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Edmond Deer Creek</em> lost a great setter in SWOSU commit, <strong>Cameron Turner</strong>, but they will be returning SWOSU commit, OH <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='145979' first='Jenna' last='Houk']</strong>, DS <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='145969' first='Haylee' last='Harris']</strong> and MB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='145986' first='Julia' last='McLendon']</strong>. Deer Creek will be looking solid as usual. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Edmond North</em> fell just short of the state tournament last season. They lost a solid pair of seniors in <strong>Elaina Murray</strong> and <strong>Kate Christie</strong>, but can the likes of newcomers <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='177292' first='Emma' last='Gatewood']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='212421' first='Sydney' last='Dunkleberger']</strong> help keep them in the playoff race? This tournament will be an earlier indicator of just that. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> <em>Mustang</em> was just in the state finals two season ago. They will look to start the season strong and work their way back into the mix. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Norman High</em> will have stud setter, <strong>Emma Henry</strong>, for one last season. She has set and hit outside for them and will likely continue with those roles. She has committed to play at OU.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Coweta Invitational </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This has been a very early test for some of the best in class 5A. Five teams in the tournament were state qualifiers from last season. This will be a round robin format, where each team will play every team once over the two days. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><li>Lawton Mac</li><li>Piedmont</li><li>Claremore</li><li>Coweta</li><li>Sapulpa</li><li>Glenpool</li><li>Carl Albert</li><li>Tahlequah </li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Lawton Mac</em> will be tall and athletic as usual. With three players at 5'11 and taller, they will be putting up big blocks and putting down big swings. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='205948' first='Alayna' last='Vines']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='156861' first='Bailey' last='Lowder']</strong>, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='498546' first='Alexis' last='Williams']</strong> all can make big plays at any given time. They will have that upset loss against Southeast last season fresh on their minds and it will help them play aggressive. This is going to be a dangerous team, be warned. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Piedmont</em> will rely heavily on the big arm of Sr. OH <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='145962' first='Kaylie' last='Marshall']</strong>. She makes an immediate impact in any game she is in. Add in young gun <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='212435' first='Chesnie' last='Caudill']</strong> and this team has plenty of firepower to get back to the state tournament. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Claremore</em> has been to the state tournament 3 out of the last 4 years. Can a strong senior class help them make it 4 of 5? They have size up front in Sr. MB <strong>Ella Irvin</strong>, So. MB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='212432' first='Claire' last='Hardage']</strong>, and Sr. RH <strong>Nicky Parziale</strong>. So. OH <strong>Ella Ramsey</strong> could be a key factor in how they do this weekend. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Coweta</em> is full of young talent. <strong>Chloe Doeer</strong> in the middle is a seasoned player to rally behind. Look for her to help lead <strong>Olivia Brand</strong> and <strong>Bailey Belt</strong> into battle.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Sapulpa</em> has some amazing multi-sport talent in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='156857' first='Tyla' last='Heard']</strong>, <strong>Stailey Heard</strong> and <strong>Mataya Hall</strong>. They will again put up a huge block and put pressure on opponents. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Glenpool</em> has some really talented freshman. Both are already very agile and smart for their height and age. They will look to take steps forward in the rankings and this tournament is just the place to do it. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Carl Albert</em> has some solid senior leadership behind S <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='143130' first='Emily' last='Boyer']</strong> and OH <strong>Madison Stuart</strong>. They will look to assert dominance early in the season by winning big matches in this tournament. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Tahlequah</em> just missed out on the state tournament last season and lost a senior who made all state. Can they rebound and reload for another run? </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This season is going to be amazing and this weekend is just the way to kick it off!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->