— WAGONER — There was no drama this time as Wagoner and Inola met for the third time this season on the volleyball court

After having split two matches that went the distance, the Lady Bulldogs made short work of the Lady Longhorns 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-19) on Thursday night at the Hughes Event Center.

After beating Inola in three sets in a tournament in Salina a month ago, Wagoner lost in five sets at Inola three days later. Coach Judy Penner said that made her girls none too happy.

“They didn’t like it when Inola beat us at their place,” she said. “We had some intense practices this past week and they were ready tonight. They’ve been waiting for a long time.”

The first game was a see-saw affair early. With the score tied at 10-10, Wagoner senior hitter Natalie Masten registered one of her four kills for the night. Then, Bailee Thomas served up six straight points, including a service ace, to give the Lady Bulldogs a 17-10 advantage. Thomas had three aces in the set which Wagoner closed out after establishing a six-point lead.

Inola jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second set. But after a Lady Longhorn service error, Wagoner’s serve specialist Antayzia Henderson turned things around with a wicked knuckle balling serve that led to six points and tied the game at 7-7.

“Antayzia has been in a slump all season,” Penner said. “She used to serve like she did tonight all the time but she kind of lost it. But she’s worked hard to get that special touch back and tonight she looked like the Antayzia of old.”

With set tied at 9-9, the Lady Bulldogs rattled off nine of the next 12 points and led 18-12. The Lady Longhorns managed to get the deficit down to four at 19-15, but Wagoner scored three points in a row to take a seven-point lead and from there cruised to the  second-set win.

Masten, who is still recovering from ACL surgery last spring, had another solid performance with four aces to go with her kills. The southpaw hitter says recovering from the injury and surgery has helped her re-focus.

“It kind of made me more dedicated to the game and has pushed me harder,” Masten said. “My goal now is to go further in the playoffs this year.”

Wagoner was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season.

It looked like the Lady Longhorns (10-7) might break through in the third set as they grabbed a 13-9 lead at one point. But the Lady Bulldogs scored eight of the next nine points to jump on top 17-14 and Inola was never able to get closer than two points the rest of the way as Wagoner swept the match.

With two weeks left in the regular season, the Lady Bulldogs (9-6) face a pair of crucial games next week. They play at home against Westville on Monday and return home to play Okay, ranked No. 2 in the Okrankings.com Class 4A poll on Tuesday.