Crossings Christian weathers early deficit to advance
Cement jumped out to an early 8-4 lead against Crossings Christian in the first set of the first game of the quarterfinals of the Class 3A volleyball championship.
From that point forward, though, Crossings Christian dominated, going on a 10-2 run behind outside hitter Grace Fairlie and middle defender Megan Hooper.
Crossings would go on three straight sets in the best-of-5 matchup, 25-19, 25-12 and 25-20.
Crossings Christian coach Heather Ruiz said her team did a good job of weathering the early lead by Cement.
“I just really told them to calm down and start communicating with each other,” Ruiz said. “Once we did that we were great.”
Ruiz said Hooper controlled the middle with her length and made things tough on Cement to get shots at the net.
Crossings Christian will take on Holland Hall on Saturday at 9 a.m. at Choctaw High School.
Southwest Covenant falls after leading by two sets
Things were going easy for Southwest Covenant early, as it jumped out to an early two set lead against Corn Bible.
In the third set it looked like it would be more of the same as Southwest Covenant held a 20-17 lead, but Corn Bible went on a 9-4 run to win the set 26-24.
Corn Bible then took care of business easily in the fourth set, dispatching Southwest Covenant 25-17.
The fifth and final set, a first to 15 with the winner needing to win by 2, was a nail-biter as both teams eventually had a chance at match point, but it was Corn Bible that ended up pulling off the upset win against Southwest Covenant 17-15.
Corn Bible coach Erin Basinger said her team did a great job of fighting for every point.
“I didn’t have any magic words,” Basinger said. “They just decided they were going to fight their hardest and leave it all on the floor. I think they can probably all go to bed now.”
Corn Bible plays Chisholm on Saturday at 10:45 a.m. at Choctaw High School.
Holland Hall battles back
In the wildest match of the day, Holland Hall came back after dropping the first two sets to Oklahoma Union to win 16-14 in the fifth set.
Union took the first two sets easily winning 25-15 and 25-17.
But Holland Hall found a rhythm in the third set, finding ways to set up junior outside hitter Lauryn Terry for the several viscous slams that started to turn the momentum.
Holland Hall won the third set 25-19 and then grinded out the third set 25-22 to force the fifth set, which is first to 15, which they won 16-14.
Holland Hall coach Inna Felkins said she was proud of her team for persevering and not giving up hope.
“It was so hard to watch,” Felkins said. “I just told them to make the other team into mistakes. Force them into the difficult decisions and tough errors. We just needed to remain aggressive.”
Chisholm heading back to semifinals
First-year Chisolm coach Dru Kratovil was all smiles on the team bench on Friday as her girls held off Summit Christian in three-straight sets to advance in the state tournament.
Kratovil, 22, took over the Chisolm program after the Longhorns had made it to semifinals the past two years.
Kratovil said all the credit for the repeat goes to her girls.
“I’m so proud of them and so excited that we are advancing,” Kratovil said. “I never would’ve dreamed of making the state tournament my first year coaching. So all of the praise to our girls.”
Chisolm won the first two sets easily, 25-9 and 25-13 before edging out Summit in the final set 25-23.
ADAM KEMP, STAFF WRITER