CPHS Volleyball: Sandites win five-straight, place second at home tournament

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A short-handed Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (18-13, 2-6) dropped a tough 3-0 conference loss to Booker T. Washington Tuesday evening on the road, but rebounded with their longest win streak of the year. They beat Claremore 3-0 Thursday on the road, then won their first four games of the Sand Springs Showdown.

The tournament was originally supposed to be hosted at Glenpool two weeks ago, but after the Warriors canceled it, Sand Springs decided to host. They rode the home court advantage to a five game streak before falling to Highway 97 rival Sapulpa in the de facto Championship game.

6A No. 17 ranked Booker T. Washington (8-12, 3-3) has shown streaks of brilliance this season, despite their losing record, and even managed to take down a pair of top-five teams in tournament play. They’re not a school you want to play without your full starting lineup, and it showed as the Hornets rolled to wins of 25-11, 25-16, and 25-15 on their Senior Night.

Sand Springs was missing libero Madison Blaylock, and two of their top-scorers in Layla Lenex and Payton Robbins. Jacelyn Smith led the offense with nine kills and two aces, while Olivia Dewitt anchored the team defensively with 22 digs. Teyha Johnson had 12 assists and two aces. 

5A No. 18 Claremore (6-21) was much more manageable, though the Zebras kept it fairly competitive. Sand Springs got the sweep with sets of 25-21, 25-20, and 26-24. They got back Blaylock and Lenex but were still missing their top offensive player. 

The Sandites got an early start on Saturday and earned a 2-0 sweep of 5A No. 10 Glenpool (13-12) with sets of 25-15 and 25-23. 

They picked up their third straight win 2-0 against 5A No. 6 Lawton MacArthur (18-10) with sets of 25-20 and 25-19. Game one was close till 16-16, then Smith served up three-straight aces in a five point run that pushed Sand Springs ahead for the win. In game two they held a narrow 21-19 lead before Smith scored a kill to kick off a four-point streak for the win. Smith scored a team-best six kills with four aces, and Lenex had four kills and four blocks. Johnson recorded 14 assists and ten digs. 

Their fourth-straight win came against Will Rogers (8-12) who they had already beaten last month on Senior Night. Smith served two aces in an 11-point streak in set one and scored a team-high six kills in the match. Sophie Singleton and Holland scored five kills each and Johnson had 14 assists. The Sandites won sets of 25-12 and 25-10. 

5A No. 8 Santa Fe South (14-5) was another tough competitor but Sand Springs got another 2-0 sweep with sets of 25-17 and 25-19. They led only 17-16 when Holland kicked off a seven point streak, and Holland also scored the final kill of the game. In set two they only led 19-18 before winning six of the last seven rallies. Singleton led the team in kills with six, followed by Lenex and Holland with five each. Johnson had 19 assists, Charley Fahland made five digs, and Blaylock served four aces. 

5A No. 11 Sapulpa (15-15) finally put an end to the Sandite streak to win the tournament and pay back a pair of Sandite wins from earlier in the season. Sand Springs led 20-17 late in set one before the Chieftains went on a six-point run and won 25-22. In game two the Sandites trailed by as much as 17-11 but battled back and cut it as close as 21-19. Lenex went down with an ankle injury late in the set, however, and Sapulpa won four of the last five rallies to finish 25-20. Holland led the team with five kills, and Singleton and Lenex had four each. Smith had three kills and three aces. Johnson posted 15 assists and Blaylock had 17 digs.

Sandite Volleyball will return to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. with a conference home game against No. 13 Union (14-10, 3-3) and will wrap up the regular season Thursday at 6:30 p.m. against 5A No. 12 Collinsville (12-18). Robbins is expected to miss the match against Union, but should return to the lineup in time for Collinsville.