Memorial upsets Santa Fe in five sets

After a two-hour long, five-set match Monday night that featured a unique serving contest for attending fans, the Memorial Lady Bulldogs upset the hosting Santa Fe Lady Wolves 3-2. Santa Fe claimed the first two sets just about the way Edmond volleyball fans envisioned it. The Lady Wolves rushed out to a 2-0 lead behind Kaeli Robinson and company, especially so when they took a 7-0 lead, and then a 16-8 lead, in the second set of Monday’s match. While Santa Fe did struggle to close out the Lady Bulldogs towards the end of the second set, all gauges were green for the Lady Wolves headed into the final set. But, between the second and third set, Santa Fe held a “serving contest” that allowed middle schoolers, followed by other attendees, a chance at serving a ball and winning a T-shirt. The extended intermission between the two sets forced Memorial into their locker room to avoid the large crowd on the court. Memorial, now down 2-0, came out of the intermission revitalized, and claimed the next two sets 25-23 and 25-20, forcing a fifth set. In that final set, Santa Fe had an almost wire-to-wire win. The Lady Wolves jumped out to an early, 3-0 lead that transitioned into a 5-1 lead. After a Memorial timeout, the Lady Bulldogs ran the ball back, but was only able to get within one point before Santa Fe ballooned the lead to 13-10, with serve, and threatened to close the match out. On that next point, the Lady Wolves were called for a net infraction, giving a point, serve and momentum over to their Edlam rivals. The Lady Bulldogs rattled off five consecutive points, including the net infraction, and claimed the final set 15-13. For the weird interaction between sets 2 and 3, Assistant Coach Jaclyn Burroughs thinks it helped. “I think that was an advantage for us,” Burroughs said. “To get to go back there and regroup and refocus.” The intermission allowed the Lady Bulldogs to get away from an environment where they had just dropped two consecutive sets, and regain some of their composure: All while the Santa Fe Lady Wolves were working a serving contest. Burroughs, who’s filled in for Head Coach Natalie Murray after a death in Murray’s family has called her for a short absence, said that coming into their tough week wasn’t any different than any others. “I just told them, let’s go out there and play hard, and, you know, why not try and beat Santa Fe?” Burroughs said. Memorial’s win in Santa Fe’s gym makes them only the second team to defeat the Lady Wolves on their own court, after Deer Creek dropped the state’s second ranked squad in five sets during the championship of the Heather Harkness Memorial Tournament. Coincidentally, the Lady Bulldogs will play Deer Creek, the highest ranked team in the state, on Tuesday, one day after their upset win against Santa Fe.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Edmond Memorial High School Athletics

MEMORIAL UPSETS SANTA FE IN FIVE SETS

AARON ALBERTSON

The Edmond Sun | 9/20/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Edmond Memorial High School Athletics