CPHS Volleyball falls 3-1 to No. 7 Union despite strong effort and 25 kills from Mutiri

Kendall Wise served back-to-back aces in the 3-1 loss to Union. (Photo: Morgan Miller) Click to view full photo gallery.

Union 3 CPHS 1
Set One: 25-10 CPHS
Set Two: 25-7 Union
Set Three: 25-18 Union
Set Four: 25-17 Union

Kills: CPHS 37, Union 31.
Blocks: Union 7, CPHS 2.
Aces: Union 8, CPHS 5.
Service Errors: CPHS 10, Union 7.

(CPHS Only)
Kills: Mutiri 25, Youngblood 6, Bradshaw 4, Campfield 2.
Assists: Burris 29, Taylor 1, Johnson 1.
Aces: Wise 2, Mutiri 1, Youngblood 1, Taylor 1.
Blocks: Neely 1, Mutiri 1.
Digs: Mutiri 3, Taylor 1, Wise 1.

The No. 12 ranked Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (6-11) hosted the No. 7 Union Redskins (9-4) in a Frontier Valley Conference showcase Tuesday evening at the Ed Dubie Field House. The Redskins had previously defeated Sand Springs twice this season, and despite getting hammered in the first set, the visitors battled back to complete the trifecta. 

Union gave up the first point in set one on a service error, evened it up with a kill from Abby Bryan, gave up a point to Gloria Mutiri, then evened it out once again with a strike from Ashley Barrows. Sand Springs went on a four-point run with kills from Mutiri and Kenzie Bradshaw to take the lead at 6-2. Union battled throughout but were unable to stymie the unstoppable tide of the Sandite offense. Mutiri scored eight points and Bradshaw had three in the 25-10 onslaught that ended with a hard-hit ace from Mutiri.

The second set started rough for Sand Springs, due more to errors than to Union's offense. A service error from Sand Springs and an ace from Union set the tone of the game. Cloe Campfield scored a kill, Union scored three points, Mutiri scored a kill, and Union scored three more. That pattern persisted for most of the set till the Redskins closed out with eleven-straight for the 25-7 win behind heavy defensive indifference.

Set three looked competitive at times and like a potential Redskin blowout at others. Union jumped out to a 6-2 lead, Sand Springs battled back for an 8-7 advantage, then Union ran away with it with eight-straight points including three aces from Grace Touthang. The two teams fought even from there, but Sand Springs was unable to make up the difference, falling 25-18. 

The fourth and final set was about the same as the third. Union took a 3-0 lead, Sand Springs tied it up with a kill from Mutiri and back-to-back aces from Kendall Wise, then Union added three more. The Sandites tied it up again at 8-8 thanks to a series of Redskin errors, but Union jumped back out to 15-11 with kills from Bryan and Barrows. Kylie Taylor notched an ace at 17-14, but Union won four-straight from there and surged ahead for the 25-17 win. 

Mutiri led all scorers with 25 kills, one block, and one ace, while Madison Burris recorded 29 assists. Devree Youngblood added six kills, Bradshaw had four, and Campfield tacked on two more for the Sandites. Barrows was the leading scorer for the Redskins with eleven kills, followed by Gabbie Inman with six, Juliet Roy and Madi Brown with five apiece, Bryan with three, and Nicole Merrill with one. Inman led in assists with 14.

The Lady Sandites will return to action next Tuesday with a home match against No. 17 Owasso (6-5). The Sandites previously defeated Owasso 3-0 at the Broken Arrow Invitational, sweeping the Rams with sets of 25-22, 25-19, and 25-19.