By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
Piedmont head volleyball coach Tom Williams said it’s time to buy stock in his team.
After their performance at the Noble Tournament last weekend, it’d be hard to argue with him.
The ninth-ranked Wildcats on Saturday beat No. 1 Lawton MacArthur to take the tournament title and improve to 13-9-1 on the season.
“It was a real barn burner of a match,” Williams said.
Piedmont lost the first set to the Highlanders and were on the brink of defeat in the second set before rallying from a 24-21 deficit to win 33-31.
Piedmont took the decisive third set, 15-7.
“We got the momentum (in the second set) and didn’t give it back,” Williams said. “Even when we messed up in the third set, we scored.”
Williams said he switched Piedmont’s standard 6-2 alignment into a 5-1 and leaned on junior setter Macy Lee and outside hitters Kaylie Marshall and JoAnna Hunter.
“They got the job done. The rest of the kids were playing great defense, too,” Williams said. “We really played like a team and that made all the difference.”
Prior to defeating MacArthur, Piedmont forged a tie with No. 5 Sapulpa and beat No. 10 El Reno as well as Seminole and Noble. PHS earned the top seed in pool play via point differential.
“I think this was a big step forward for us,” Williams said. “The kids are feeling really confident.”
The goal moving forward is close the regular without a loss, Williams said.
“The kids know what it feels like to win and they want to feel that way the rest of the season,” he said.
Piedmont, which is No. 8 in Class 5A now, is already in solid position to host a regional, but continuing to pile up wins will only help to improve the Lady Wildcats postseason draw.
“I’ll take whatever we get because I think this team is capable of going to state wherever we have to play,” Williams said. “The ball is in our court. If we work hard and believe we can make the state tournament and even make some noise while we’re there.”
