By Chuck Reherman
Sports Editor
NORMAN – Every night is a challenge when a team plays in the Central Oklahoma Athletic Conference.
Tuesday night was no different for Yukon. The Millerettes did turn in their best effort of the season, but again came up on the short end, this time to Norman North in four sets at Norman.
YHS is 0-2 in COAC play and is 2-5 overall on the young season.
But, YHS gave Norman North, again one of the top five teams in the state, and tough match and was tied 1-1 after two sets.
Norman North, though, used a strong service game and play at the net to pull out the win.
The Lady Timberwolves won the opening set 25-18, but saw YHS come back and win the second 25-23. NNHS won the final two 25-18 and 25-18.
“The girls played with so much heart and hustle last night, and really worked hard against a very tough Norman North team,” Millerette head coach Rachel Allred said. “I see it everyday from them, their love of the game, their desire to win, their heart to stay tough when things get tough. But it’s even better when others can see it too, and we had many compliments from the refs, opponents, coaches and parents after the game.
“I am so proud of this group and blessed by each of them,” Allred said. “We are continuing to improve as the season progresses, and that is our goal, to just keep building on our strengths and to fix our weaknesses, so we are at peak performance when it matters most in October.
“I’m super excited about our progress and very happy with how we played last night. We still have some things to work on, but we know what needs work, and are ready and willing to do what it takes to fix those things. We’re building confidence, and are ready for the OKC Storm on Tuesday and have two important non-conference games next week.”
The Millerettes did stretch Norman North in the match. YHS kept the first set close until a late run put the set away.
The Millerettes used kills from Bri Worth, Rachel Kittell and Addie Wimmer to key the 25-23 win.
“Gabbi (Mobarak) has stepped up as libero with Baylie (Thiel) out with injury and has done an exceptional job with the position and new responsibility,” Allred said. “She had 61 digs for the night and three assists.”
Worth and Wimmer lead the team in kills with 13 and 11 respectively. Wimmer also had 31 digs, and five aces. Worth had four aces, five blocks, and 34 digs.
Setters Hattie Hughs and Kashlei Vo stepped up with 13 and nine respectively. Katie Clark lead the team in blocks with nine. Kittell and Haley Kusik also had a strong night with two blocks each. Kittell also had 13 digs.
The freshmen also had a big win in 3 sets, 25-14, 16-25, and 15-11.
Libbie Hughs had 7 aces, Jadyn Stalnaker had 12 assists, and Faith Davis had 9 kills.
The Millerette JV lost in two sets, but their second set was some of their best play of the season so far. 6-25, 20-25
Bayie Gilliland had 21 digs, Tatum Farris had 12 digs, Abby Michael had 6 assists, and Anna Pogue had 5 kills.
The Millerettes will host the OKC Storm at 6 p.m. on Tuesday and travels to Piedmont for a match on Thursday, also at 6 p.m.
