By Chuck Reherman
Sports Editor
Yukon was looking to expand their win streak to four as it entered a match with No. 4 ranked Norman North.
The No. 4 team won it.
The powerhouse Lady Timberwolves controlled the tempo of the match and swept the Millerettes in three matches, 25-14, 25-15 and 25-12, snapping a three match win streak by the Millerettes.
The Millerettes, 5-8 overall, were coming off a three set sweep of Putna City on Tuesday, but couldn’t get very much going against North. The Lady Timberwolves were there to block attempted kills and used a tall front line to register kills.
“Norman North is a very good team, they are always in the run for a state title,” Millerette head coach Rachel Allred said. “We made too many mistakes in serve receive and at the net and when we did get to block their shots, we didn’t get a solid block on them.
“We knew it would be a challenge for us, but we like challenges and hopefully this will show us more of what we need to get ready for the playoffs.”
North, 20-3, took control of the opening set and used their power hitting game to win the first set 25-14.
The Millerettes did tie the second set 8-8 early on, but saw North take command with a 6-0 run, 14-8 and the led 20-12.
One Tuesday, the Millerettes rolled to a three-set win over Putnam City on their home court Tuesday. YHS won 25-14, 25-11 and 25-9 in the match that the Millerettes controlled from the start.
“It was a good test for us to see if we could stay focused and keep the intensity on and playing our kind of game and not getting comfortable or getting lazy on things,” Allred said. “The first set had some low points, but then we got back to business, played our game and was ready for anything they sent back over to us. That was the goal to stay focused even when we were way up.
“The first set was close until about eight points and then we pulled away,” she said. ‘It was a good confidence builder and just working on our focus and staying focused no matter who is on the other side of the court.”
Leading 1-0 in sets, the Millerettes did see Putnam City keep the second set close. YHS led 15-11 before scoring the final 10 points in a row. Yukon used kills from Addy Wimmer and Rachel Kittell, blocks from Katie Clark and service aces from Libbie Hughs keyed the run.
The third set was all YHS. The Millerettes went up 5-0 and expanded the lead to 16-4. YHS had opened a 24-5 lead then saw Putnam City score four straight before scoring the set and match winner.
“We made several subs at the end, the last 10 points had some different people in there, but they still did well,” Allred said. “There were a little bit of an adjustment in serve receive and things like that. But we still got to play everyone, we will have focus and confidence. It was good.”
The Millerettes will host Mustang in Bedlam on the Court on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and will play Piedmont and Tulsa Union on Thursday at 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
