Games Of The Week: Week 1

Season is officially here and games are set to begin. We will do our best to have 3 matches every week picked as games to watch. We will also try to get a tournament of the week article each week. The first two weeks are super important to setting the tone as well as building an early resume for rankings. Here are the first three games of the week. We even got to ask some of the coaches a couple questions.   8/10 Piedmont @ Norman   Opening day starts with a pop with a huge COAC match. The toughest conference in Oklahoma will see two state qualifiers go toe to toe on day 1.   Head Coach at Norman, Alexis Brendemihl: "I'm just ready for the season to get going again. We've had a blast the last two years, broke a bunch of records, and seen so much improvement that it's honestly fun to just sit back and smile about it. We're starting the year with a few injuries the girls brought in from club ball, but once we get through those, I think we're going to be a really fun team to watch.   This week we've got our work cut out for us against Piedmont. Tom's a great coach and they're stacked, so we'll have to be firing on all cylinders. It's always nice to open the season at home, though. We've got a lot of talent on this team and we're ready to get started."   Key Players: Setters [player_tooltip player_id='297110' first='Zoe' last='Young'] and [player_tooltip player_id='511388' first='Georgia' last='Caddell'] for Norman. Middle Tenn State commit, [player_tooltip player_id='477448' first='Sophie' last='Payne'], outside hitter for Piedmont. Recent TU Commit, [player_tooltip player_id='821438' first='Izabella' last='Holasek'], middle blocker for Norman. SNU commit, [player_tooltip player_id='750474' first='Mackenzie' last='Manning'], setter for Piedmont. Cant leave [player_tooltip player_id='748675' first='Olivia' last='Carter'] off the list, Miss St commit who plays right side for Norman.   8/11 Bishop McGuinness @ Broken Arrow   2025 6A state runner-up vs 5A state champs. The story basically writes itself. Both teams are both elite level and will be eyeing the title again in 2026.   "Head Coach at BA, Ian Bullen: We are looking forward to being very competitive in all our matches & tournaments, pushing for improvement as the season moves along & peaking at the right time to make a big push into the postseason.    Focus this 1st match will be to serve tough at our targets, have a balanced attack from our pins & middles and play really fast on offense."    Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='752755' first='Margaret' last='LoPorto'] middle blocker for BM, Kelsey Patton middle blocker for BA, [player_tooltip player_id='610402' first='Aliyah' last='Owens'] setter/Right Side for BA, and [player_tooltip player_id='748672' first='Arielle' last='Yapi'] outside hitter for BM.   8/11 Inola @ Oologah   Both of these teams have been competitive in class 4A. They will both be trying to get back into that top 8 and host a region as they have in recent years. Both programs are led by quality coaches that now have their roots firmly in place within the program.   Head Coach at Oologah, Abby Piha: "I'm excited to see how this team develops as a unit - we are young, but not necessarily inexperienced. So far I'm loving their energy and focus, if we can keep those two things going it will be a really competitive year for us.    Week 1 is about being consistent with what we can control. Trusting our system and each other - and executing in the moment."    Head Coach at Inola, Tyler Swope: "The thing I'm looking forward to most this season is to watch this particular group of players compete and grow together as the season goes on. We have great relationships on this team that extend far beyond volleyball and I'm eager to see how the friendships that already exist between the players deepen and positively affect the team as the season goes on. Every season is a journey and I'm excited to see where this journey takes us.    The biggest focus going into the matchup with Oologah is how some of our first time starters handle the tough road environment we know we'll encounter in Oologah. After graduating several impactful seniors from last year's team, we're only returning about four players with significant Varsity experience this year so there's going to be a lot of new faces on the floor for us this season. Oologah is a team that always has a great crowd, they're incredibly well coached, and we know every time we match up with them it's going to be a dogfight. I'm expecting we'll get their best on Tuesday night and I can promise you we're going to give our best as well. I'm really looking forward to the challenge."   Key Players: [player_tooltip player_id='933710' first='Halle' last='Barron'] middle blocker for Oologah, [player_tooltip player_id='933575' first='Zoey' last='Hadley'] outside hitter for Inola, Isabella De La Torre setter for Oologah, Tessa Groff setter for Inola, Liv Thomason middle blocker for Oologah and Izzy Helling outside hitter for Inola.

Season is officially here and games are set to begin. We will do our best to have 3 matches every week picked as games to watch. We will also try to get a tournament of the week article each week. The first two weeks are super important to setting the tone as well as building an early resume for rankings. Here are the first three games of the week. We even got to ask some of the coaches a couple questions.