In an action packed weekend for Lincoln volleyball, the Bulldogs continued to play at a high level and finished 5th at the Owasso Tournament.

No. 5 Lincoln (16-9) beat No. 4 Owasso (6A), Ponca City (6A) and Bixby (6A) over the 2-day event, as the group continues to build towards peaking during the postseason in the next month.

Lincoln beat Ponca City 2-0 on Friday and then Owasso and Bixby on Saturday, winning both matches 3-2.

The Bulldogs also fell 2-0 to No. 10 (6A) Jenks and 2-1 to No. 1 (6A) Broken Arrow on Friday.

"We came out a little lethargic on Friday morning against Jenks," said Lincoln head coach Deidra Rader. "We regrouped that day and took care of Ponca City and battled against Broken Arrow."

Lincoln beat Ponca City 26-24 and 25-13 on Friday. 

The real excitement came Saturday, where Rader's group came out on top in a marathon match against Bixby and battled through adversity in the win over Owasso.

"We had an epic battle with Bixby that took two and a half hours where the 4th set actually hit the cap rule and we lost 30-29 to force the 5th set," she said. "We ended up prevailing there 15-13."

Lincoln outlasted Bixby by winning the first set 25-20 and the third set 29-25. The Bulldogs narrowly lost the second set 26-24.

"The Owasso match was a great test of resiliency because we won the first set, then they beat us pretty badly in the 2nd and 3rd, but we managed to serve aggressively and play clean the last two sets to get the upset."

Lincoln won the opening set against Owasso 25-17 before falling 25-14. Lincoln's backs were against the wall after losing the third set 25-12 but the Bulldogs rallied back for a 25-21`win to force the fifth set, winning the decider 15-12.

Lincoln was without senior outside hitter Ellie Stine in the final match on Saturday vs. Owasso, who may miss some time with an injury.

"We played the Owasso match without Ellie Stine, which made the victory even sweeter," Rader said. "She may be out for a week and a half with a knee injury. We may utilize her against Victory tomorrow, but we'll let the trainer keep guiding us on how to proceed to get her where she needs to be for postseason."

Olivia Tucker led the way for Lincoln with 16 aces on the weekend and was named to the all-tournament team. Francesca Rollandini had 11 and Emily Ingraham had 10 for the Bulldogs.

Rollandini also had 160 assists in the five matches to only nine errors.

Ingraham had 66 digs to lead the Bulldogs, while Rollandini had 48. Tucker had 44 and Maleah Levell had 39. All Lincoln players had a 71% or better dig percentage across the weekend.

Tucker had 56 kills for Lincoln, averaging 3.3 per game. Jada Faulkner had 27 and Stine had 24.

Anabel Nelson and Harlow Brown each had 19 over the two days, while Levell had 16.

Lincoln is at No. 4 Victory Christian tomorrow before returning home to host Bixby next Monday and No. 15 Rejoice Christian next Tuesday.