CPHS Volleyball: No. 14 Sandites fall 3-0 to No. 9 Broken Arrow

The No. 14 ranked Charles Page High School volleyball team (10-18) has hit a rough patch lately, going 2-4 at the Stillwater Tournament this past weekend and suffering a 3-0 sweep at No. 9 Broken Arrow (16-12) Tuesday evening.

BAHS 3 CPHS 0
Set One: 25-15 BAHS
Set Two: 25-10 BAHS
Set Three: 25-21 BAHS

Kills: BAHS 31, CPHS 14.
Blocks: BAHS 5, CPHS 3.
Aces: BAHS 7, CPHS 1.
Service Errors: BAHS 8, CPHS 6.

(CPHS Only)
Kills: Mutiri 9, Burris 2, Campfield 1, Neely 1, Cypert 1.
Assists: Burris 10.
Aces: Madison Ward 1.
Blocks: Mutiri 3.
Digs: Mutiri 3, Burris 2.

The Sandites fell in straight sets to No. 8 Union (19-10), No. 12 Westmoore (15-12) and No. 5 Stillwater (23-7). They lost 3-1 to No. 17 Southmoore (10-17) who they had previously defeated in straight sets at the Broken Arrow Tournament. On Saturday they prevailed 3-0 against Bartlesville (4-22) and the Stillwater Junior Varsity.

Tuesday was another tough match against Broken Arrow, and though the first two sets were blowouts, the Sandites finished on a high night with a close loss in game three. 

After Madison Ward served an ace to start off the night, the home team won the next eight rallies before turning the ball over on a service error. Kansas State University-commit Gloria Mutiri scored a block and a kill, and the Sandites battled back to a 9-7 deficit. The home team slowly began to creep further and further ahead, however, and wrapped things up at 25-15. 

The second set was even more of a blowout as the Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Sand Springs tried to hang tight early on with a kill from Makenna Cypert and a block from Mutiri to make it 8-5, but after turning the ball over on a service error, the Sandites lost seven straight rallies for a double-digit deficit. Eventually the home team prevailed 25-10.

The third set was far more competitive as the Sandites found their rhythm and hung tight with their foes throughout. The set tied nine times and the Sandites led for 23 rallies by as much as three points before the home team won four straight to flip the script from 20-18 to 22-20 in their favor. Mutiri cut it back to a one-point deficit but Broken Arrow won three straight to close out 25-21 and complete the sweep.

The Lady Sandites will travel to 5A No. 10 Claremore (15-12) on Thursday in their last match before the final rankings come out Monday. They will host No. 18 Muskogee (18-14) on Monday, Sapulpa (4-13) on Tuesday, and Ponca City (11-11) on Thursday. The Regional pairings will be released Wednesday. 

Lady Sandites fall in straight sets to Broken Arrow despite being matched offensively

Photo: Morgan Miller

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The No. 15 ranked Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (21-12) hosted the No. 6 Broken Arrow Tigers (18-5) Tuesday night and battled valiantly through the match, dropping three close sets of 23-25, 23-25, and 21-25. Offensively the Sandites actually had the edge with 45 kills to the Tigers' 44, but the Broken Arrow team was more disciplined defensively and committed far less errors.

Sand Springs: 45 kills, 31 errors
Broken Arrow: 44 kills, 22 errors

SS Kills: Mutiri 22, Kersgieter 7, Youngblood 5, Leslie 3, Burris 3, Mudd 1, Cypert 1.
BA Kills: Bledsoe 19, Wratten 9, Smith 9, Blackburn 2, Bercher 2, Cowan 1. 

SS Assists: Burris 16, Ward 6, Cypert 2, Leslie 1.
BA Assists: Blackburn 31

SS Digs: Leslie 14, Taylor 11, Kersgieter 6, Mutiri 5, Burris 2, Mudd 2, Ward 2, Ward 2, Cypert 1. 

All three sets were back-and-forth affairs with the scoring being tied for nearly a quarter of the match. Broken Arrow led for the majority of the first and second sets, but the Sandites actually had the edge in game three before the Tigers came from behind to spoil it.

Sand Springs committed fourteen kills in the first set with eight of them coming from junior Ohio State University commit Gloria Mutiri. Madison Burris registered five assists in the first game. The most the Sandites ever trailed by was 17-13 before going on a four-point run to tie it up thanks to a kill from Mutiri, an ace from Holly Kersgieter, and a tipped ball from freshman Devree Youngblood. 

It was a back-and-forth game from there until an error by Makina Wratten tied it up at 20-20 and the Sandites took the lead on an ace from Burris. Kamryn Smith tied it back up at 21-21, but Mutiri scored back-to-back kills off sets from Burris and Makenna Cypert for the 23-21 advantage.

Those would be the last points the Sandites would score, however, as Mackenzie Backburn set up Mia Bledsoe for back-to-back kills, followed by back-to-back aces from Julia Bercher to win the game 25-23. Both teams committed nine errors apiece in the first set, but the Tigers had 16 kills to the Sandites' 14. 

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Sand Springs scored the first kill of game two thanks to Youngblood, but the Tigers won the next four with a pair of kills from Wratten and an ace from Smith. Sand Springs one-upped the Tigers with five-straight rallies off two kills from Mutiri and a combined block by Mutiri and Cypert to lead 6-4. They held that lead till 7-7 when Blackburn set up Bledsoe for back-to-back kills. The Sandites struggled to keep the lead from there and by 11-10, it was the Tigers with the advantage.

The Sandites didn't lead again for the duration of the game, but they tied it up six more times before Broken Arrow took the penultimate lead at 17-16. Sand Springs got close at 24-23 off a Mutiri kill and Burris assist, but Blackburn scored on a fake set tipped ball to secure another 25-23 victory. Once again it was Mutiri who led the scoring for the Sandites with nine points, and Burris registered seven assists.

Sand Springs got off to another great start in the final set and lead for 45% of the game. Wratten scored the first kill of the set, but Lee Leslie tied it up, Mutiri took the lead on a kill, Burris served an ace, and Mutiri registered a solo block for the 4-1 advantage. Broken Arrow didn't manage to tie it till 10-10 off a Sandite error.

From there the game was back-and-forth. Burris, Cypert, and Bledsoe all hit aces. The game tied at 19-19 off a Tiger error, but once they regained the lead, they held it till the end and won 25-21.

Errors have been the defining factor in nearly every Sandite loss this season as the high-powered Sandite offense led by Mutiri, Kersgieter, and Youngblood has little difficulty in keeping up in a shootout. Any time the communication is good, the Sandites win with incredible numbers. But when they start building campfires and colliding, that's when it falls apart. Lately, however, they've done far more destroying than falling apart.

The Sandites upset No. 14 Bixby 3-2, went 6-2 at the Catoosa Tournament, upset 4A No. 1 Metro Christian 2-0, and upset No. 10 Union 3-2 as well. Since the month began, their only losses have been 3-0 to No. 5 Owasso, 2-0 to 4A No. 3 Victory Christian, and 2-0 to 4A No. 1 Metro Christian, who they split with. The errors that plagued the beginning of the season are becoming fewer, the defense is getting tighter, and the offense is continuing to give it 100% all the way till the end. 

The Sandites have only two matches left before the Regional tournament and both are away games. They will travel to 5A No. 5 Collinsville (19-9) this Thursday at 6:00 p.m., and will take on their Highway 97 rivals from Sapulpa (2-11) next Monday at 6:30 p.m.

Lady Sandite Volleyball knocks off No. 10 Union in beautiful upset

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The No. 10 ranked Union Redskins (5-5) probably expected little competition from the No. 17 Sand Springs Lady Sandites (13-9). Union’s only losses before their journey to Sand Springs were to top-ten teams. Unfortunately for them, the Sandites’ ranking is misleading.

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team had recently gone 2-4 at the Broken Arrow Invitational, but that record doesn’t show that they were one of only two teams there to win even a single set against No. 2 Norman North (12-2). It also doesn’t show that six of the ten games they lost were by five points or less.   

The Redskins got off to a fast start on the Sandites in the first set before giving up three points on errors. Madison Burris and Gloria Mutiri combined on a block to tie things up at 4-4 and Mutiri scored a kill for the lead.

Union went on a five-point run from there, but the Sandites won eight-straight rallies to reclaim the advantage. Mutiri and Holly Kersgieter each scored several kills off Burris and Lee Leslie, and Madison Ward scored the first ace of the game.

The Sandites were up 16-11 when Union went on another streak. Kendall Cotter scored a pair of aces, Gabbie Inman and Paris Hornor both registered kills, and the Redskins took the 19-16 lead before freshman Devree Youngblood broke the streak with a spike off Burris. Union continued to outscore Sand Springs till a 24-19 score looked like they had it all wrapped up.

The Sandites had other plans.

Mutiri scored off Kenzie Bradshaw, Kylie Taylor served an ace, Ashley Barrows gave up a point on an error, and MaKenzie Ward set up Mutiri to narrow the score to 24-23. Barrows scored a kill to win the set for Union, but the Sandites had shown they were here to play.

The second set was far closer and neither team allowed the other to go on a run this time. The longest scoring-streak either team managed was four rallies. The game was tied up six different times, but the Sandites led six different times and only allowed the Redskins to lead once.

Union tied things up at 15-15 with a kill from Chloe Click, then took the lead on a pair of errors. They held the advantage for only five rallies before giving it up on an error at 18-18 and never recovered. Mutiri took the lead at 20-19 off a set from MaKenzie Ward, Kersgieter served an ace, then scored again after a Union time out. The final minutes were back-and-forth on scoring, but Sand Springs never relinquished the lead and ultimately won 25-23 on a kill from Mutiri.

The third game belonged explosively to the Sandites. After giving up the first three rallies to Union on errors, the Sandites tied things up at 4-4 and took the lead with back-to-back aces from Burris. Union never tied it and never even got close to leading again.

The Sandites scored seven aces in the third game: two from Burris, two from Kersgieter, two from Kendall Wise, and one from Mutiri. The host team had doubled down on their visitors 22-10 midway through the game. The Redskins tried to rally, but they were too far in the deficit and Sand Springs won 25-17.

The visitors found their feet in the fourth game and led for most of it. Sand Springs battled heavy in the last minutes and got within a few points, but Union prevailed 25-22 to force a fifth set.

The final game started off a tad rocky for the Sandites with some communication errors and campfires, but after tying it up at 5-5 with a kill from Mutiri, the Sandites took the lead and never looked back. Kersgieter scored the go-ahead point, Mutiri and Leslie combined on a block, Hornor committed an error, Mutiri added another kill, and Mutiri and Leslie combined on yet another block for the 10-5 lead.

The next five points were decided by errors and the Redskins closed the gap to 12-9 with a tipped ball from Inman. Kersgieter almost saved a shanked dig that went OB, but the ball caught the antenna for the point. Morgan Livingston hit an ace, and the Redskins threatened at 12-11.

Union got into the net on the next rally and Wise served an ace to make it 14-11. A four-touch call gave Union a point, but MaKenzie Ward set up Youngblood for the game-winner.

Mutiri led the Sandites in scoring with twenty-nine kills, five blocks, and two aces, followed by Kersgieter with a season-best fourteen kills, two assists, and four aces. Youngblood was next in on the action with a season-best ten kills, and Wise also scored a season-best with five kills and four aces. Burris had her best night of the season with nineteen assists, followed by MaKenzie Ward with eighteen.

The Lady Sandites will get a full week off after playing twenty matches in twenty-one days. They’ll return to action next Tuesday in an away match at Owasso. Owasso is ranked fifth in 6A with a 4-0 record. Freshmen begin play at 4:00 p.m., Junior Varsity is at 5:00 p.m. and Varsity is at 6:00 p.m.

Lady Sandites drop straight sets to Bartlesville at BA Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The No. 18 ranked Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (11-8) is 1-3 at the Broken Arrow Tournament after dropping their first match of the silver bracket Saturday morning. 

The Lady Sandites got off to a great start in the first set against the No. 20 Bartlesville Bruins (3-7) with a 7-0 lead. MaKenzie Ward set up Devree Youngblood for the opening kill and Holly Kersgieter scored an ace on the side out. Lee Leslie scored a pair of kills and Gloria Mutiri added one as well.

The Sandites gave up a pair of points on errors, but Madison Burris and Mutiri scored on a pair of blocks to make it 10-2. Mutiri followed up with a pair of solo blocks soon after, but the Bruins finally started to compete. 

Sand Springs gave up a point on an illegal block and the Bruins capitalized with an ace. That gave them the momentum they needed to surge towards a 25-19 finish. 

The second set was competitive from the get-go, though the Sandites did lead for much of it. The Bruins took the lead at 10-9, but Mutiri and Leslie combined for a block to tie it up. Bartlesville regained the lead right after on a consecutive touch call and never relinquished it from then-on. They won that set 25-21. 

The third set was marred by communication errors, but the Sandites still managed to hang tight. Bartlesville won that one 25-20 to sweep the match. 

Mutiri led in scoring with eleven kills and give blocks, followed by Kersgieter with six kills and two aces. Ward registered eight assists and Burris had seven. 

The Sandites will return to action at noon against the winner of Moore (1-11) vs No. 15 Southmoore (3-4).