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Oxford’s Michael Ann East (8) hits the ball over the net against Lewisburg in MHSAA Class 6A volleyball playoffs in Oxford, Miss., Tuesday, October 12, 2021. (©Bruce Newman)

Oxford’s Ainsley Tacke (13) hits the ball over the net against Lewisburg in MHSAA Class 6A volleyball playoffs in Oxford, Miss., Tuesday, October 12, 2021. (©Bruce Newman)

Oxford’s Madison Jones (15) and Claire Wicker (10) celebrate winning game 2 against Lewisburg in MHSAA Class 6A volleyball playoffs in Oxford, Miss., Tuesday, October 12, 2021. (©Bruce Newman)

Oxford’s Catherine Bianco (20) plays against Lewisburg in MHSAA Class 6A volleyball playoffs in Oxford, Miss., Tuesday, October 12, 2021. (©Bruce Newman)

Oxford’s Michael Ann East (8) plays against Lewisburg in MHSAA Class 6A volleyball playoffs in Oxford, Miss., Tuesday, October 12, 2021. (©Bruce Newman)

Last week Lewisburg swept Oxford to hand the Chargers only their second loss of the season. On Tuesday, the Chargers exacted some revenge to keep their season alive.

Oxford defeated the Patriots 3-1 (19-25, 25-12, 27-25, 25-15) at the OHS gym to advance to the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.

The match was the first time the Chargers had a match go longer than three sets. The match was also the first time Oxford dropped a set at home this year.

Lewisburg looked to continue where they left off last week, taking the first set and in control of the match. Between the first and second sets, Oxford head coach Ashley Martin talked with her team and settled them down.

“I thought we came out kind of slow, which is kind of something we’ve done in all of our sets and Lewisburg’s a really good team,” Martin said. “Probably one of the toughest teams we’ve played, minus (Jackson Academy and DeSoto Central) and some of the other DeSoto County schools. … I think in the second set we really picked it up really hard.”

The Chargers controlled the second set from the start to level the match at a set a piece.

In the third set, Oxford was in firm control yet again but had to withstand a late surge by the Patriots. Leading 20-14 in the set, Lewisburg went on a 11-4 run to get a set point opportunity. The Chargers responded and pulled out the set for the lead.

The Chargers then closed the match out with a strong fourth set performance.

“That’s something we really struggled with last year was when we were down, how would we respond to being down?” Martin said. “This year they’ve really been able to turn that around. Like, if somebody got on a run or something happened and we were able to respond and take care of that. I thought they did a really good job of that tonight.”

Ainsley Tack led the Chargers with 15 kills followed by Bree Lyons 11 kills. Catherine Bianco recorded a team- and match-high 20 digs with Lyons finishing with 15 digs and Maddie Jones finishing with 12 digs.

Lewisburg’s Sadie Bridgeforth tied Bianco with 20 digs. Jayda Bradley and Ella Grace Holloway each had a team-high 12 kills for the Patriots.

Oxford travels to Madison on Thursday to face the Germantown in the second round. The match is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. with the winner advancing to next Tuesday’s North Half championship match.

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