VOLLEYBALL: Verdigris advances to third-consecutive state tournament with sweep of regional

Oct. 6—VERDIGRIS — Caleb Horton let out a big sigh of relief.

Although his top-ranked Lady Cardinals never experienced any real threat of elimination, he couldn't help but be nervous. For him, that is a part of coaching high school girls.

Luckily for Horton, he didn't have to fret too much.

Verdigris did what it was expected to do, sweeping through its regional with 3-0 wins over Wagoner — 25-10, 25-13, 25-9 — and No. 16 Classen SAS — 25-6, 25-19, 25-12 — Wednesday at the Verdigris Activity Center to advance to the Class 4A state tournament for a third-consecutive year.

The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association will release the state bracket Monday.

"This one was the most fun," Horton said, reminiscing about the past two teams that reached the milestone. "Just the expectation of this group being one of the better ones we're going to have. This group's had two years at state, and they're a little seasoned and ready to go. Last year we got through the first round, and we were excited and shocked about it, and then we just didn't do anything in that second round. This year, their goals are a lot higher. We're excited to go."

Morgan Borgstadt and Logan Hamilton were their typical dominant selves, finishing with 27 and 26 points, respectively, through the six sets. The former notched 21 kills, four aces and two blocks while the latter added 20 kills, three blocks and three aces.

Sicilei Redd reached double digits as well with 12 points — eight kills, three blocks and two aces.

The Lady Cardinals (42-6) blitzed Classen SAS in the first set of the championship round, scoring 15 of the first 17 points on the way to a 19-point win. The trio of Borgstadt, Hamilton and Redd scored 12 of the team's earned points.

The Lady Comets (21-8) were much more competitive in the second, though, quickly surpassing their first-set total while grabbing a 7-6 lead.

It turned into a back-and-forth between duos Borgstadt/Hamilton and Vivienne Hill/Amyah Sutton as the teams traded points before Verdigris finally pulled away with a 5-0 run that increased the lead to 21-14.

Kara Busby sparked a 4-0 spurt with two kills to pull Classen within three, but Verdigris scored four of the final five points — including two kills and an ace from Hamilton — to take a commanding 2-0 lead.

"It was a little nerve-wracking in that second set," Horton said. "I was a little scared. I was like, 'Uh oh, we're doing our beat a team really bad and then lay down the second set."

The third set appeared to be more of the same as Classen built a 6-4 lead, but the Lady Cardinals went on to rattle off a 21-6 run as Borgstadt, Hamilton, Redd and Shelby Howard combined for 12 of the team's 15 earned points to clinch their trip to state.

The Lady Comets scored 12 points in the fourth, but they all came via Verdigris errors.

Busby (five kills) and Hill (three kills, two blocks) paced Classen through the three-set match, and Sutton managed two blocks and a kill.

"I'm not surprised," Horton said of his team's mistakes in the third. "We're a very generous team; we believe in giving. That's been a problem we've had all year, just a lot of mistakes. If we can learn to clean those up, we'll be fine.

"We watched and made the decision really quick — avoid their libero (Aniyah Durham)," he added about the strategy that led to the defensive domination during the final set. "She's really solid, and we told them to not serve at her. Whatever you do, don't serve at her and don't hit at her. Every time we served at her, we had to play defense. She's a good player, and I told her that afterwards."

Hamilton — who had seven kills in the second set alone — registered 12 kills, two blocks and two aces in the match, and Borgstadt recorded eight kills, three aces and two blocks.

Although the numbers were impressive, the Lady Cardinals didn't quite get the picture-perfect ending they were hoping for, as the match point was decided by a Lady Comet net error.

No thunderous kill. No intimidating block.

The first match against Wagoner ended in a similar fashion. A bitter-sweet end to the seniors' final match at the Verdigris Activity Center.

"I was hoping we'd get a hit on them," Horton said. "I was really hoping we could finish with an actual earned point, so I'm a little sad for them. There's nothing more frustrating than being in a game at match point, and someone's in the net or does a double hit or something silly. Let the play end naturally."

If there were any concerns about the Lady Cardinals' sluggish play carrying over from Monday's match at Skiatook, they evaporated quickly.

Verdigris thoroughly dominated all three sets against Wagoner without relying on errors, for 52 of its 75 points were earned (69.3%).

Six players contributed at least two points in the first set, led by Hamilton with five kills. Borgstadt (four kills) and Redd (three kills, one ace) were close behind with four while Morgan Keeler, Amelia Fernau and Abagayle Barnes had two apiece in helping build a lead as big as 22-5.

The Lady Cardinals spread the wealth well again in the second with five scoring at least two, including major contributions from Cambria Boren (three kills, one block) and Campbell Roadman (two aces). This time they led by as many as 15, scoring 18 of the first 21 points.

Another quick start in the third saw Verdigris tally leads of 9-1 and 13-2 before a 5-0 run — capped by consecutive aces from Daisy Diaz — put the Lady Bulldogs within striking distance.

However, Verdigris — which had four multipoint scorers in the set — closed with a 12-2 run.

Borgstadt finished the match with 13 kills and an ace, and Hamilton dipped into double figures at eight kills, one block and one ace. Redd (four kills, two aces, one block) and Fernau (four kills, two blocks) had notable performances as well.

Lanie Brown led Wagoner with three kills and two blocks, accounting for five of the team's 11 earned points. No other Lady Bulldog had more than two.

CLASSEN SAS 3, OOLOGAH 1: The Lady Mustangs' four-game winning streak was snapped in a season-ending four-set loss to Classen SAS — 25-19, 17-25, 17-25, 20-25 — in the first round of the regional tournament Wednesday at the Verdigris Activity Center.

Oologah (17-18) won the first set thanks to hearty performances from Lizzie Hoisington, Faith Helton, Shadee-Kaye Stewart and Sarah Davis, overcoming a late 16-15 deficit with a 10-3 run.

It then scored the first four points of the second and held five leads at that margin, but the Lady Comets responded with a 13-0 run to take a 20-11 lead, and the Lady Mustangs never led again throughout the remainder of the match.

Classen scored the first nine points of the third and led by as many as 10 before opening the fourth with a 5-0 run, leading by a comfortable cushion of 5-7 points for a majority of the set.

Stewart led Oologah with nine kills and two aces while Helton added nine kills and an ace. Hoisington contributed six kills and a block, and Davis had four kills and two aces.

Busby paced the Lady Comets with 14 points (12 kills, two aces), and Hill (four kills, five blocks) and Sutton (five kills, four blocks) had nine apiece. Arianna Parker (six kills, one ace), Brooklyn Aikins-Babcock (six kills) and Poliana West (three aces, one kill, one block) were also standouts in the win.