It was a bittersweet evening for first-year Enid coach Jason Atwood.

He led the Class 6A No. 11 Pacers into battle on Tuesday, and on the opposing sideline were 10 Stillwater High seniors — many of which he helped teach important aspects of volleyball. Atwood’s club eventually fell in four sets to the fourth-ranked Lady Pioneers on Senior Night.

“I wanted to win the match, obviously, but you spend four years with those girls and you want them to do well,” said Atwood, a former SHS assistant and club coach. “I’m going to miss them, they’re a great bunch of kids and I wish the best for them.”

After each soon-to-be graduate was introduced to the crowd prior to the contest, the seniors walked over to the Enid bench, embraced Atwood with a hug and presented him with a framed photograph.

“If you listened to the opening statement by the seniors, there was as much talk about Coach Atwood as there was about me — and that’s the way it should be,” said SHS coach Ryan Webber. “He’s been a real big part of our program. It was very special for him and for us.”

Senior Courtney Anderson added, “It was great to have (Coach Atwood) here watching us and being part of this. He made me love playing the game and he was really fun to be around.”

Tuesday marked the final regular-season home game for Anderson, Stephanie Dunn, Maddie Field, Chelsey Huddleston, Amy Kangas, Mikka Mattox, Langley Pierre, Regan Sirbaugh, Amber Sumpter and manager Madison Shields.

With the victory, SHS (16-10, 4-0) clinched at least a share of the Centennial Conference championship. The Lady Pioneers can claim the crown outright with a win against rival Ponca City on the road Thursday.

“There’s no doubt that we want the title to be ours outright — we’ll be on a mission Thursday to make sure that happens,” Webber said.

Anderson added, “We’re excited because we know it comes down to one game against Ponca City, and we pretty much know we’re going to beat them.”

SHS, which started an all-senior lineup in the opening set, overcame an early 9-4 deficit and took a 24-18 lead with the help of back-to-back aces by Huddleston. However, Enid recorded eight unanswered points and escaped with a 26-24 win.

“I’ve now been part of 13 of these (Senior Nights), and because of the emotion, you really have zero idea of what’s going to happen on the floor,” Webber said. “We ran a much different lineup in Game 1 and sometimes that takes the normal flow of things away from the team.

“When emotions get involved, things slow down unfortunately and I thought we played slow. All things considered, it was a very positive night.”

A kill by junior Sarah Groesbeck sparked a 6-0 run for the Lady Pioneers early in the second set, and they cruised to a 25-15 victory. SHS won the third set, 25-17, and held a 20-15 advantage in the fourth match.

However, the Pacers rallied again and evened the score at 25-25. The Lady Pioneers sealed a 27-25 win thanks to another kill by Groesbeck.

“It was a fun match,” Atwood said. “They have a great team — that’s why they’re No. 4 in the state.”

Anderson added, “It was awesome, but it was sad knowing this will be our last (regular-season) game to be played (at SHS Fieldhouse).”

After Thursday’s 6:30 p.m. meeting with the Lady Wildcats, SHS closes the regular season at No. 5 Owasso on Monday. Regional sites and pairings will be released later this week.