CPHS Volleyball: Sandites headed to tournament finals with 2-1 win over Booker T. Washington

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (7-6) earned their first winning record of the season and punched their ticket to the Sandite Invitational finals with a 2-1 victory over Booker T. Washington (5-3) Saturday afternoon at the Ed Dubie Field House.

Sand Springs won the first and third sets 26-24 and 15-7. They are on a six-match winning streak, and won twelve-straight sets before falling 25-22 to the Hornets in game two.

Oklahoma Baptist University-commit Devree Youngblood led all scorers with ten kills in the best-of-three match. Raylynn Mong had a team-high sixteen assists and three aces.

Washington went on a six point run for an early 9-5 lead thanks to powerful hitting from Andrea Hernandez and Makenzie Johns. Sand Springs played from the hole for the majority of the set, but tied it at 11-11 with a block from Youngblood and Vanessa Wyrick, and at 22-22 on an error. 

Mong recorded nine assists in the game, with four going to Madison Burris and four to Youngblood. Burris paced the team, but Youngblood came up clutch at the end of the set, scoring three of her kills in the final six rallies. Youngblood gave her team the 23-22 lead, Lexa Turner tied it, Youngblood responded, Tia Gripado tied it, then Youngblood scored once again. Finally, Wyrick served an ace to secure the victory..

The second set went much the same as the first, with Washington taking an early lead and Sand Springs staging a late rally. This time, however, the Hornets held strong. A four-point run with a kill and an ace from Sydney Thompson gave Washington the lead from 11-8 till 20-20 when the Sandites went on a five-point run with three kills from Youngblood. The visitors won five of the final seven rallies and Gripado hit the game winner. 

Game three was a whole different story, with Sand Springs taking a commanding 5-0 lead right out of the gate thanks to three-straight aces from Mong. Emma Pappas aced to cap a three-point run for Washington, then the Sandites rattled off four more. Gripado and Hernandez tried to keep their team alive, but a 6-1 run sealed their fate after back-to-back kills from Jacelyn Smith. 

The Sandites will play the winner of Booker T. Washington vs. Tecumseh (7-4) for the tournament title at approximately 3:00 p.m. They previously beat Tecumseh 2-0 (25-22, 25-15) in pool play. If the winner of the loser’s bracket beats the undefeated Sandites, a tie-breaker round will be played.

CPHS 2 BTW 1 (26-24, 22-25, 15-7)
Kills: CPHS 27, BTW 27.
Blocks: CPHS 3, BTW 1.
Aces: CPHS 6, BTW 5.
Service Errors: CPHS 7, BTW 6.
Total Errors: CPHS 23, BTW 27.
(Sand Springs stats)
Kills: Youngblood 10, Burris 5, Wyrick 5, Campfield 3, Smith 3, Blaylock 1.
Assists: Mong 16, Burris 6.
Assisted Blocks: Wyrick 3, Youngblood 2, Burris 1.
Digs: Blaylock 3, Youngblood 1, Mong 1, Campfield 1, Burris 1.
Aces: Mong 3, Wyrick 2, Blaylock 1.
(Booker T. Washington stats)
Kills: Gripado 9, Johns 5, Hernandez 4, Thompson 4, Stephens 2, McIntosh 2, Turner 1.
Aces: Pappas 3, Turner 1, Thompson 1.
Assisted blocks: Gripado 1, Hernandez 1.