Week 2 Match-ups to Watch

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Week 1 matches are in the books and we have already seen teams with impressive starts, lack luster takeoffs, and some surprising upsets. We will have our first official rankings coming out after this week finishes up. So let's get another awesome week underway!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>8/15 Bishop Kelley @ Norman North</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bishop Kelley only had one match last week and they won 3-1 over Booker T Washington, which is a solid start for new head coach, Sarah Dicks. While Norman North started their season with a revenge match with Jenks and was able to beat the Trojans on their home court, they followed that up with competing in the tough Norman High tournament. They went 1-2 on day one with a win over Norman. This placed them in the silver bracket where they started off with a comfortable sweep of Mustang before beating Edmond Santa Fe for the silver bracket championship. I am looking forward to the matchup of [player_tooltip player_id='145961' first='Katie' last='Kolar'] on the right side against [player_tooltip player_id='156860' first='Curry' last='Kendall'] on the Outside. They will likely hit and block against each other for a rotation or two. I can't wait to see how this match goes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>8/17 Piedmont @ Mt. St. Mary</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I am predicting both of these teams make the 5A state tournament and will be semi finalists. Both are very impressive and disciplined. Neither will make many mistakes or find a moment too big for them. I have personally coached against both teams in the last three weeks. Mount plays more up tempo and serves tougher but Piedmont plays great defense and has some great control in their swings. Piedmont has an outside in [player_tooltip player_id='145962' first='Kaylie' last='Marshall'] that can do it all: hit, serve, pass, and if they needed her, she could probably set as well. They also have [player_tooltip player_id='206198' first='Aleeyah' last='Hamblin'] in the middle that had a handful of impressive kills during this weekend's tournament. They both received all tournament selections. For MSM, [player_tooltip player_id='212407' first='Livia' last='Ward'] has been killing it. Great offensively as a hitter and a setter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>8/15 Sand Springs @ Owasso</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Owasso has only played one match but it was a solid showing, trouncing conference foe, Muskogee, 25-8, 25-14, 25-10. They have an impressive core group returning in [player_tooltip player_id='177224' first='Jada' last='Bishop'], [player_tooltip player_id='177225' first='Carley' last='Butler'], [player_tooltip player_id='208358' first='Kiya' last='Colvin'], and Kirsten Harper. They will be looking to make another run at state. Sand Springs is coming off an impressive first week of play, playing Union really close before taking down Glenpool on the road. They hosted their own Sandite Invitational this past weekend and went on to win it, making it 3 out of 4 times since the tournament has started. Sr. OH Payton Robbins and Sr MB [player_tooltip player_id='145974' first='Layla' last='Lenex'] have stepped up big in the front row. Lenex was voted tournament MVP and Sr Libero [player_tooltip player_id='145965' first='Olivia' last='Dewitt'] was also an all tournament selection. Owasso had an impressive run last year, while Sand Springs has had an impressive start to the year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Week 1 is officially in the books. Plenty of great matches have already been played. More will be played in week 2. Tournaments to watch for week 2 will be coming out in the next day or so. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->