Sandite Volleyball Downs Sapulpa 3-1

Sandite Volleyball defeats Sapulpa in Highway 97 Rivalry play.

The Highway 97 Rivalry trophy is back in Sand Springs.

The 6A No. 15 Sand Springs volleyball team (8-6, 1-4) recorded its first conference win of the season, 3-1, Tuesday night at 5A No. 6 Sapulpa (13-11, 1-4) in a thriller.

After losing the first set 25-18, the Sandites cleaned up their act and won the next three games 25-18, 25-17, and 25-18.

“My husband lost (the trophy) so I had to go get it back,” joked first-year head coach Skylar Jackson after the match. Jackson took the program over from her husband, Derek, who is now at Claremore.

Sapulpa stormed out to an insurmountable 9-1 lead in the first game after four consecutive Sandite attacks sailed out of bounds to kick off an eight-point run. 

The Sandites totaled 11 errors in the first set, while Stailee Heard and Wrigley Adkisson combined for nine kills. Jayden Smith tallied five kills for the Sandites. 

Game two was all tied up at 15-15 till the Sandites ran away with things late in the set. Sand Springs only committed six errors and that proved to be the difference maker. Payton Robbins recorded six kills and two aces for the Sandites.

In game three the Sandites only led 19-16 before winning six of the final seven rallies. Hannah McKelvey’s ace secured the win and this time it was Layla Lenex leading the set with five kills.

Robbins played her best in game four with seven kills and two aces and Lenex won a thrilling final rally on a tipped ball.

Six different Sandites recorded kills in the match, led by Robbins with 20, Lenex with 16, and Smith with 12.

“Our setters do a really great job of making sure all of our hitters are involved,” said Jackson. 

McKelvey recorded a team-high 24 assists and Allie Wright had 18. Olivia DeWitt had a team-high 17 digs and Evyn Morrow added 12.

Robbins was the star of the night with 16 digs and four aces to complement her attacking prowess. 

“She’s the calm in the middle of the storm,” said Jackson. “She’s not a real high emotional player. She doesn’t get real down, she doesn’t get real up. She’s kind of the even tone of our team, so for her to come out and have a good night is important. It’s really important for our team.”

Stailee Heard, an OSU basketball commit, led all scorers with 22 kills, but Adkisson was the only other Chieftain in double digits with 10.  

Sand Springs has now won eight of the last ten meetings with Sapulpa.

“This game is kind of big on its own because it is a rivalry, but we have a tough tournament coming up so it was even more important for us to gain some momentum before going into our tournament,” said Jackson.

The Sandites will play No. 6 Owasso (12-9) at 10:00 a.m. Friday in the first round of the Ram Invitational in a rematch of their 3-0 conference loss. 

They will also play No. 4 Edmond Memorial (16-4) and Southmoore (7-11) in Friday’s pool play. They previously defeated Southmoore 2-1 at the Sandite Invitational.

Bracket play will begin at 10:00 a.m. Saturday with two guaranteed matches.