Program builder

By JEREMY SHORT

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — In a season that has already seen the Tahlequah volleyball team achieve its highest ranking in school history, the Lady Tigers added another big accomplishment on Monday night when they edged No. 1 Bishop Kelley 3-2 at the TMAC.

“There’s good wins and there’s program-building wins,” said Lady Tigers coach Don Ogden. “I hope that’s one that helps us continue to build the program.”

Tahlequah (18-5) clinched the match with a 15-13 victory in the decisive fifth game. The final point was recorded on a Bishop Kelley serve that sailed just inches out of bounds.

The victory in the fifth game came just after the Lady Tigers had gone back-and-forth with the Lady Comets only to lose 33-31 in the fourth game.

“I was concerned we might let us affect us, but we didn’t,” said Ogden. “Our two weeks of preseason we worked as hard as we could work to get through things like this.”

Although the night ended with a win, it did not start out well as Tahlequah watched Bishop Kelley decisively take the first game 25-13.

The second game was a different story as the tide began to turn and momentum shifted to the side of Tahlequah.

With the crowd now behind them, the match seemed to turn in their favor and they won the second game 25-18.

“I’m very, very pleased with the community and student groups that came out,” said Ogden.

The third game was also a close affair as Tahlequah trailed for much of the way, but rallied from a three-point deficit late to tie it at 24-all.

The Lady Tigers then recorded the next two points to take the 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth game was the best of the night as the teams went back-and-forth with either team leading by more than four points the whole way.

After Bishop Kelley tied the game for the 19th time at 31, they finally took the game by scoring the final two points.

In the final game of the night, Tahlequah fell in an early 6-3 hole, but rallied to tie it at eight.

The Lady Tigers finally got within a point of the victory at 14-12 and scored one of the last two points for the 15-13 win.

Senior Sara Nelson had 11 kills and six digs.

Setter Hannah Harlow led the team with 16 assists and Haley Kay had a team-high 10 digs.

Danielle Whitehorn added seven kills and eight digs and Natalie Nowlin and Kirsty Hitchcock each had seven kills.

“This team is very special and our fans have seen it too,” said Ogden.

The Lady Tigers finished third in the Catoosa Tournament on Saturday. They lost two games in the tournament, including two to Clinton.

After Monday’s victory, Tahlequah now sits with a record of 18-5.

In earlier action on Monday night, the Tahlequah ninth-grade and JV teams lost in two games to Bishop Kelley.

They play again tonight at the TMAC against Tulsa Edison. The junior high matches will begin at 5 p.m. followed by the varsity.

Tahlequah also plays at home on Thursday against Westville before traveling to the Coweta Tournament this weekend.

“We just have to put this one in the win column and get ready to play tomorrow [Tuesday] night,” said Ogden.

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