Original article from the Muskogee Phoenix

OKAY – It has been three years since Okay had been to the volleyball state tournament.

The Class 3A No. 2 Lady Mustangs made sure there was no doubt as to who would be going to next week's Class 3A state tournament as Okay beat down the Westville Lady Jackets 3-0 to win a regional title Thursday at George Hopkins Field House. The quarterfinals will be held on Friday, Oct. 9, at Choctaw High School with the semifinals and finals at Shawnee High School on Saturday, Oct 10.

Senior outside hitter Summer Milligan, the lone member of the team who was one the 2012 squad that lost to Cache in the 4A semifinals, said that she did not want to end her career without another state tournament appearance.

"I don't even know what I'm feeling right know, you know?" she said. "Coach (Belinda) Clark told us before the match that we could lose and that no one was going to give it to us."

It was quite obvious that Clark's team listened to her, as Okay opened the match scoring five of the first six points and it was the front line that did the damage. Junior outside hitter Karleigh McMahan had two kills while junior middle blocker Kirstyn Anderson had two blocks and one kill.

Anderson knew it was important to establish a front wall early. She gained that from watching the Lady Jackets eliminate Hulbert 3-1 in the first match.

"I watched their hands when they went up to hit," Anderson said. "That way they had to adjust to my block and it kind of threw them off."

By the time the first set was done, Milligan had four kills and one ace, McMahan had three kills and Anderson had one kill and three blocks in the Lady Mustangs' 25-13 win.

McMahan, who was in the eighth grade and a spectator the last time Okay (25-7) captured the regional championship, said she did not want to miss this opportunity to go to state.

"It means everything to me," McMahan said. "I remember sitting over there in the stands and thinking 'Oh my gosh, that is so awesome to go to state' and how awesome everyone else felt and now I'm going."

Westville (10-15) recovered from the shock between sets and was tied with Okay at 7-7 in the second set when the Lady Mustangs established their presence again. Okay ran off seven straight points off the serve of junior Blake Judkins, four of the points being service aces, to take a 14-7 lead.

The Lady Mustangs eventually pushed its advantage to nine points, 20-11, and won the set by a 25-17 score. Clark said Judkins' contribution from the back was just as important as that of Anderson, McMahan and Milligan.

"They know that playoffs is a different story and any team can go down at any moment," Clark said. "They were focused and ready to go to state."

The third set was a dogfight until the midway point with Okay leading 13-11. The Lady Mustangs from that point closed out the match with a 12-4 run to win the set 25-15.

For the match, Milligan finished her final game at Hopkins Field House with a team-leading 10 kills to go along with three aces and one block, while McMahan registered nine kills. Anderson had five blocks and four kills, Judkins served up seven aces and Jade Hopkins dished out 23 assists.

The Lady Mustangs must now wait until Monday to find out who and when they will play in the 3A quarterfinals.