Lady Rams Volleyball named Regional Champs
By Katelyn Fisher
On October 10th, the Lady Rams volleyball team played Capitol Hill during the regional playoffs and dominated on the court. Their undisputed victory allowed the Lady Rams to advance to the regional championship game, where they faced their final opponent of the night: Edmond Santa Fe.
Photo of Owasso Lady Rams volleyball team, taken by Katelyn Fisher.
Starting the night off strong, the Lady Rams found victory in their first set against Capitol Hill with a score of 25-7. The girls didn’t want to give their opponents any chance to catch up and kept a high-intensity level, finding themselves the winners of the second set. With possibly one set left, Owasso’s hopes were high. Not wanting to underestimate the other team and determined to win, they continued playing with the same fervor; they then found a third and final victory against Capitol Hill.
“We just went in with the mentality that we can’t take that first game lightly,” Head coach Meghann Kannett explains; “We just [had] to go attack them.”
After a short break, the Lady Rams were back on the court, warming up for the championship game against Edmond Santa Fe. The team knew this wouldn’t be an easy match, but they kept their confidence high. Fighting hard, the Lady Rams took the first set and moved on to the next, where, unfortunately, they lost to Santa Fe. Even after a discouraging set, the girls came back in the third and found another victory there, followed by another loss to Santa Fe. With two losses to Santa Fe, the team had an immense amount of pressure to stay in the right mindset while heading into the last set of the final game.
Coach Kannett states, “It's easy to stay up and have fun when you're winning, but it's hard when you're losing.”
Throughout the match, the girls were struggling with their mental game. However, they stayed together as a team and supported each other through the ups and downs that come with a high-stakes game. The Lady Rams knew they had to forget about the last four sets and only focus on the current one if they wanted a chance of winning.
“In volleyball, it's such a fast game, you've gotta let the last point go,” Coach Kannett explains. “Whether you won it or lost it, it doesn't matter. You've gotta let that one go, and you've gotta focus on this one because that one is gone.”
Photo of Lady Rams taken by Katelyn Fisher
Heading to the fifth and final set of the regional championship game, the Lady Rams were understandably nervous but were determined not to let their season end there. Throughout the year, the girls have worked on facing adversity and keeping morale high, which directly translated into this game. The Lady Rams never gave up and had a major comeback in this last set, securing their place as winners of the match and naming them 2023 regional champions!
Coach Kannett reflected on the tail end of their season, “We just feel like we have done everything to prepare them for this part of the season, and they just gotta come in every day, locked in, ready to go and give us their best effort.”