The varsity led off on Friday against 5A #3 Booker T. Washington and finished them off despite some shakey moments 25-16, 25-21, 25-21.  Stillwater was led by junior OH Sarah Groesbecks 13 kills while Anna Gentry, also a junior OH, and senior RS Regan Sirbaugh added 7 and 6 kills, respectively. Gentry finished the match with no receive errors. Senior setter, Amy Kangas led with 4 aces and 14 assists, while junior setter Dakota Glasson had 9 assists. Groesbeck also passed 8 of 9 balls to target for a 2.56 ratio. Junior Libero Mary O'Neill and Groesbeck each had 6 digs in the contest as well.

Match #2 pitted Stillwater against host Tulsa Union. After a slow start that saw Union jump out to 25-19, 25-17 wins in the first two games, Stillwater turned it around in the 3rd with a 25-20 win and then won a marathon 4th game 31-29. The Pioneers would have the match tied at 13 but the Lady Redskins would win the finals two points and the match. With the loss the Pioneers would have to knock off Edmond Memorial in the final match of the pool to force a playoff for the Gold Bracket. Kangas finished with 34 assists, an ace, 4 digs and a kill. SHS was led on offense and defense by Groesbeck who finished with 17 kills and 14 digs. She also added an ace, a solo block and was error free in serve receive on 15 attempts. Sarah was followed closely by O'Neills 11 digs. Sirbaugh had a very solid 10 kills and served tough. Senior Defensive Specialist Maddie Field recorded 4 digs and an ace. Gentry ended with 8 kills. Both senior MB Chelsey Huddleston and Kerns had 2 solo blocks. Senior RS Mikka Mattox tallied 4 kills.

Against Edmond Memorial the Pioneers fought hard but couldn't overcome a tough serving match in losing to the Lady Bulldogs 25-20, 25-20, 25-21. The loss knocked Stillwater into the Silver Bracket for Saturday. Anna Gentry led the Lady Pioneers with 7 kills while Sarah Groesbeck and Regan Sirbaugh each had 5. Mary O'Neill led the defense with 12 digs while Maddie Field had 9 and Gentry added 7. Amy Kangas finished with 22 assists, while Devin Kerns had 2 solo blocks and 3 kills. O'Neill and Gentry both finished with zero errors in serve receive.

Bracket Play

Saturday Stillwater led off the Silver Bracket against a tough and scrappy Norman Tiger team but held tough and won 25-21, 25-15,25-23. Game two of the contest saw Stillwater play some of its finest volleyball of the tournament as they led by 13 at one point 21-8. The Lady Pioneers had to scramble and fight against a very determined Norman team playing well in order to take the 3-0 Match win. Gentry led the way again on offense with 10 kills while O'Neill led the way again on defense with 12 digs. Gentry also had 6 digs while Field and Kangas each added 5 digs and Kangas had 13 assists and 6 aces. Glasson ended with 10 assists and an ace. Sirbaugh finished with 3 aces and 6 kills while Groesbeck had 8 kills. O'Neill and Groesbeck were both error free in serve receive while Gentry only had one error.

The win over Norman moved the Pioneers into the Silver Bracket finals against Edmond North. And it was a great one with SHS outlasting the Lady Huskies 26-24, 20-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-10. It was an outstanding match that saw many lead changes, both coaches using multiple line-ups and substitutions and, in the end, two teams fighting with all they had left after a tough tournament. Everyone that played for Stillwater, played well. Setters Amy Kangas (23 assists and 12 digs) and Dakota Glasson (20 assists) were consist in leading the Pioneer offense. Sarah Groesbeck's 16 kills led that offense with Anna Gentry close behind with 13. Sirbaugh ended with 7, Huddleston and Mattox each had 4. Gentry had 4 aces while Maddie Field had 2. Gentry was great on defense with 18 digs while Mary O'Neill had 12 of her own and Groesbeck added 9. O'Neill only had one receive error in the 5 game match.

For Stillwater (4-4), this week doesn't get any easier with Tulsa Union coming to town on Tuesday and Class 4A's top ranked Heritage Hall visiting on Thursday. Both varsity matches will start at 6:30. JV matches will be at 5:15. 9th grade begin at 4pm. On Tuesday the 8th grade A and B team will also play Union in the Old Gym at the HS at 4 and 5:15.

For the tournament Stillwater went 2-3 beating 5A's #3 and 6A's previous #3. Tulsa Union ended up coming through the Gold Bracket beating Owasso 15-13 in the 5th in the semifinals. They then ended up beating Edmond Memorial in 4 games after dropping a 3-0 match in pool play on Friday. Santa Fe beat Owasso 3-0 to take 3rd after losing 3-0 in pool play to them on Friday as well. In the 7th place match Norman knocked off Booker T. Washington 3-1.

In the Broken Arrow Tournament, Heritage Hall beat Enid in one semifinal and Bishop Kelley beat Sapulpa in the other. The title went to Kelley, who held off Heritage 3-1.