Published: July 10, 2009 12:06 am      

Raising the bar

Oklahoma Peak Performance 16-1's take third at Nationals

It was not very long ago where it was just an honor to earn a trip to the USA Volleyball Girls Junior Olympic Championships if you were on a club team in Oklahoma. But, the Oklahoma Peak Performance 16-1’s raised the bar, and put Oklahoma on the map in the volleyball world with their performance at the tournament a week ago.

The team led by Memorial head coach Edgar Miraku, which features seven volleyball players from Edmond schools, not only competed but tied for third, while Micha Hancock and Mattie Burleson were named to the All-America Team.

“I think it took a while for it to set in on how big of an accomplishment this really was. There were tears after the semifinal loss, which was good because it shows their competitive drive, they wanted more. But, to tie for third in the nation, to be one of the best four teams is a tremendous accomplishment,” Miraku said.

“No one in the state has ever accomplished a feat like that.”

Typically teams from Oklahoma earn a trip to the national tournament via the regional tournament at the end of the season. Rarely does an Oklahoma club team make it based off its performance at a national qualifier, but that’s what the 16-1’s did.

A brutal schedule that took them from Austin, Texas, to College Station, Texas, to Omaha, Neb. and to Dallas, prepared them for placing second at the Crossroads National Qualifier in Denver, Colo. That earned them a trip to nationals, and after they won the OKRVA Regionals in Edmond, it allowed another team from Oklahoma to go to the national championships.

The team featured four players from Memorial — Amanda Ayers, Burleson, Alyssa Fisher and Hancock — and two from Santa Fe in Lindsay Harshaw and Alex Hodges. It also included players from Jenks, Union and McAlester.

“This really speaks volumes for the level of competition in Edmond high schools, and it says a lot about Peak Performance, that we have girls that are willing to make the trip to practices from Tulsa and the McAlester area’s, we’re talking two to three times a week over an 8 month period,” Miraku said.

“The level of competition in Oklahoma has grown tremendously, so much that we can compete on the national level.”

And to tie for third out of 48 teams in Miami, Fla. at the USA Volleyball Girls Junior Olympic Championships in the 16-year-old division says a lot about the coaching young women are receiving at Peak Performance.

But to Miraku, Burleson’s and Hancock’s play, which earned them two spots an All-American Team that has just 14, was even more impressive.

“That’s huge. That’s even bigger than the team placing third,” Miraku said. “That places them very high with college recruiters, their stock went up drastically.”

The long club season is finally over, allowing the girls a short time of rest as the high school season is just a month away.