Week 1 Tournaments to Watch
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Let’s take a look at two tournaments from week one that will start to separate teams early on. Norman High Tournament This tournament has turned into one heck of an early battleground. More and more top level teams are joining…
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Continue ReadingLet’s take a look at two tournaments from week one that will start to separate teams early on.
Norman High Tournament
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.
- Norman North
- Edmond Santa Fe
- Broken Arrow
- Community Christian
- Deer Creek
- Edmond North
- Mustang
- Norman
Norman North is the 6A Runner up from last year and has a ton of firepower returning. Players like Riley Roberts Riley Roberts 5'10" | S Norman North | 2023 State OK and Katie Kolar Katie Kolar 5'3" | S Norman North | 2023 State OK 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 Abigail Gray Abigail Gray 5'9" | OH Norman North | 2023 State OK , JR MB Parker Gladhill Parker Gladhill 5'11" | MB Norman North | 2024 State OK , and Sr MB Kassidy Dominic Kassidy Dominic 6'0" | MB Norman North | 2023 State OK , they will be a very seasoned and hungry team to start the year strong.
Edmond Santa Fe 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. Gianna Adriaanse Gianna Adriaanse 5'10" | OH Edmond Santa Fe | 2023 State OK and Addison Banes Addison Banes 5'5" | DS/L Edmond Santa Fe | 2023 State OK will be players they look to lean on in tough times.
Broken Arrow also lost a solid senior class and has quite a few young players in the starting line up. Lauren Harms 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 Avery Jones Avery Jones 5'4" | DS/L Broken Arrow | 2024 State OK patrolling in the back court. Look for Allison Buenzow on the right side to help balance the offense, she has just committed to play at John Brown University.
Community Christian has the OH Duo of Landry Braziel Landry Braziel 6'0" | OH Community Christian | 2024 State OK and Victoria Gray Victoria Gray 5'10" | OH Community Christian | 2024 State OK . 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.
Edmond Deer Creek lost a great setter in SWOSU commit, Cameron Turner, but they will be returning SWOSU commit, OH Jenna Houk Jenna Houk 5'9" | OH Deer Creek | 2023 State OK , DS Haylee Harris Haylee Harris 5'5" | DS/L Deer Creek | 2023 State OK and MB Julia McLendon Julia McLendon 5'11" | MB Deer Creek | 2023 State OK . Deer Creek will be looking solid as usual.
Edmond North fell just short of the state tournament last season. They lost a solid pair of seniors in Elaina Murray and Kate Christie, but can the likes of newcomers Emma Gatewood Emma Gatewood 5'10" | RS Edmond North | 2024 State OK and Sydney Dunkleberger Sydney Dunkleberger 5'7" | S Edmond North | 2025 State OK help keep them in the playoff race? This tournament will be an earlier indicator of just that.
Mustang 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.
Norman High will have stud setter, Emma Henry, 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.
Coweta Invitational
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.
- Lawton Mac
- Piedmont
- Claremore
- Coweta
- Sapulpa
- Glenpool
- Carl Albert
- Tahlequah
Lawton Mac 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. Alayna Vines Alayna Vines 6'1" | MB MacArthur | 2023 State OK , Bailey Lowder Bailey Lowder 5'11" | OH MacArthur | 2024 State OK , and Alexis Williams Alexis Williams 6'0" | MB MacArthur | 2024 OK 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.
Piedmont will rely heavily on the big arm of Sr. OH Kaylie Marshall Kaylie Marshall 5'10" | OH Piedmont | 2023 State OK . She makes an immediate impact in any game she is in. Add in young gun Chesnie Caudill Chesnie Caudill 5'8" | OH Piedmont | 2025 State OK and this team has plenty of firepower to get back to the state tournament.
Claremore 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 Ella Irvin, So. MB Claire Hardage Claire Hardage 6'0" | MB Claremore | 2025 State OK , and Sr. RH Nicky Parziale. So. OH Ella Ramsey could be a key factor in how they do this weekend.
Coweta is full of young talent. Chloe Doeer in the middle is a seasoned player to rally behind. Look for her to help lead Olivia Brand and Bailey Belt into battle.
Sapulpa has some amazing multi-sport talent in Tyla Heard Tyla Heard 6'0" | RS Sapulpa | 2024 State OK , Stailey Heard and Mataya Hall. They will again put up a huge block and put pressure on opponents.
Glenpool 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.
Carl Albert has some solid senior leadership behind S Emily Boyer Emily Boyer 5'11" | S Carl Albert | 2023 State OK and OH Madison Stuart. They will look to assert dominance early in the season by winning big matches in this tournament.
Tahlequah 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?
This season is going to be amazing and this weekend is just the way to kick it off!