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.

Sandite Sports Weekly Roundup: Volleyball and Softball Suffer Tough Week

The 14th-ranked Charles Page High School volleyball team has lost five matches in a row, but it’s the way they lost their last match that has coach Skylar Jackson excited.

The Sandites (6-6) fell 3-0 to 4A No. 1 Regent Prep (17-3) Thursday night at the Ed Dubie Field House, but the last two sets were neck and neck.

After winning game one 25-16, the Rams prevailed by close margins of 26-24 and 27-25 for the sweep.

“We’ve really been struggling with this feeling of being second best,” said Jackson. “We’re in a tough class. 6A is tough, so the history has kind of been middle of the road. We’ve really had to work hard against the mentality of being second best.”

“In the last couple of matches it really showed; we really struggled with that. But today, even though we did lose, I think we stayed up much better than we have in our last couple of matches.”

The Sandites have gone through the gauntlet over the past two weeks, falling in 3-0 sweeps to No. 4 Owasso, No. 7 Bixby, and No. 2 Broken Arrow.

The Tigers (13-2, 4-0) dismantled Sand Springs 25-14, 25-7, and 25-8 on Tuesday, dropping the Sandites to 0-4 in Frontier Valley conference play.

Regent Prep started to run away with things in the first set, scoring most of their kills on tipped balls while the Sandites’ power hitters struggled with accuracy early on.

“We made one switch, I put Jayden Smith on the outside,” said Jackson. “But I think we served tougher and kept them out of system. They were unable to get their big hitter the ball as often, or as prime of a set, and that played in our favor.”

“We did adjust to the tip. Obviously they kind of go to that pretty often if they’re off in any sort of way, so we picked that up quite a bit.”

The adjustments worked well, taking the next two sets to extra rallies.

Sand Springs trailed by as much as 16-11 in game two before surging back to a 22-21 lead before University of Central Arkansas-commit Ella Drake scored back-to-back kills for the win.

In the final game the Sandites were down 21-13 before rattling off an eight-point streak, highlighted by some aggressive blocking from Payton Robbins and Averi Tippit.

The decisive point ended up being an ace from Ellen Jenkins that was nearly a service error, just barely rolling up over the net and dropping on the other side.

“I’m just proud of our girls for staying up even though we lost the first and the second,” said Jackson. “We were down a bunch in the third and still rallied, so I’m proud of them for staying up and not just giving it away.”

Robbins scored 8 kills to lead the Sandites and added 10 digs. Olivia DeWitt recorded a team-high 17 digs, Hannah McKelvey had 15 assists, and Layla Lenex had 5 blocks and 4 kills. Sophomore Josie Myers also impressed with 6 kills.

“I told them you always want to work hard because even if you lose, it’s so worth it.,” said Jackson. “If you give it your best and at the end of the day they still get the best of you, then that’s okay. You’re still going to be proud of what you did out there, so they continue to work hard for their teammates.”

Drake scored 17 kills and 2 aces for the Rams, while Meg Goodwin and Ellen Jenkins added 7 kills and 3 aces apiece.

Sand Springs will get a week to recover before traveling to Pryor (2-13) Thursday.

Softball

After Monday’s “Youth Night” game against Bixby was rained out, the Sandites brought the heat to district-leading Jenks (12-2, 7-0) on Tuesday’s Alumni Night game.

Sand Springs (8-8, 2-3) fell in a close 6-4 affair after battling back from a 6-1 second-inning deficit.

Ashyln Clark, Jaden Jordan, Kenzie King, and Addison Tuttle scored for the Sandites.

Addie Hughes (4-7) and Kelsi Hilton (4-1) combined for 12 hits and 9 strikeouts from the circle.

After the game, the Sandites celebrated their many former players who were in attendance.

Sand Springs will return to action Tuesday at home with a district-double header against the combined team of Tulsa Memorial and Booker T. Washington (0-12, 0-4) at 5:00 p.m. for Senior Night. They will also host Bartlesville (9-6, 3-2) on Thursday.

Football

The Sandite 8th graders won their season opener 20-6 at Muskogee while the freshmen posted a 32-0 shutout against the Roughers. Varsity football is taking a bye week to prepare for Bixby on the 9th.

Volleyball Wins 2022 Sandite Invitational

Courtesy.

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Sandite volleyball team didn’t win its first match of the Skylar Jackson era, but it did win the next six in a row.

After falling 3-0 to Union (1-1) in Tuesday’s home opener, the Sandites bounced back with a 3-1 victory Thursday at Glenpool (4-2) before winning their home tournament over the weekend.

Sand Springs lost close sets of 27-25, 25-19, and 27-25 to Union but won 28-26, 23-25, 25-20, and 25-16 against the Warriors. 

“Union’s really good this year,” said Jackson. “To be new to a program but to have the girls buy in so much and be so close with such a good team, I think showed them that they really are capable of doing a lot of good things.”

Good things indeed. The Sandites won their home tournament for the third time in the past four years, and this time it was against all 6A teams.

Sand Springs (6-2) defeated Ponca City (3-3), Enid (1-6), Southmoore (4-3), Choctaw (5-2), and Lawton (0-7) before falling to Yukon (3-5) in the final match of the round-robin tournament.

“To come out ahead (at Glenpool) and then come in our own home gym and play four matches in one day and win all of those was a good testament to how hard the girls are working and how much they’re buying into what we’re doing,” said Jackson.

Jackson is in her first year at Sand Springs after taking over for her husband, Derek, who left for Claremore. She was previously an assistant coach at Broken Arrow. 

“We served really well yesterday,” said Jackson. “We received really well yesterday also. Today our middles really were able to get involved and when they were, we were firing on all cylinders.”

On Friday Sand Springs won 25-7 and 25-10 against Lawton and beat Ponca City 25-23 and 25-17. The matches against Enid and Choctaw were far closer.

Enid won the first set 26-24 before the Sandites rallied 25-23 and 25-21. They defeated the Yellowjackets 25-22 in set one before falling 25-17 and rallied to win the third 25-17.

On Saturday the Sandites won 2-1 against Southmoore, 25-19, 19-25, and 25-23, to clinch the tournament title by virtue of head-to-head against Choctaw, who also finished 5-1. 

In the final match, Yukon won the first set 25-19, Sand Springs won the second 25-21, and the Millers rallied to a 25-20 victory to spoil the home team’s streak.

“I still think we struggle a little bit with some confidence at times,” said Jackson. “Size-wise, we’re middle of the road 6A and I think just not having the winningest record all the time can be a confidence buster.”

Historically, the Sandites have been one of the lesser teams in 6A, but have finished with winning records in two of the past three seasons.

“I think playing so close with Union and then beating Glenpool and then playing as well as we did shows the girls that we can do those things. But I think that we had a little bit of a slip of confidence there in that first set.”

Senior middle blocker Layla Lenex was named the tournament MVP and senior libero Olivia DeWitt also made the All-Tournament team.

Payton Robbins, a senior outside hitter, was also one of the top contributors for the Sandites. 

“She gets the ball often and she does a good job not only swinging but also in defense and service too,” said Jackson. “She’s really stepped up her defensive game this season and that’s huge for her.”

Knocking off a bunch of 6A teams from the west side of the state should help the Sandites earn a decent place in the rankings next week, but more importantly it’ll help sharpen them up before a busy Week 2.

Sand Springs will travel to Owasso (1-0) for a conference battle on Tuesday before competing at the Muskogee tournament over the weekend.

“We’re going to really work on blocking,” said Jackson.”I think if we’d have been a little bit sharper up at the net today in that Yukon match we would’ve shut them down a lot sooner and gotten them a little bit more frustrated. So we’re going to definitely work on blocking, which will be a big deal against Owasso.They’ve got some big hitters.

“And then working our middles in transition. If we can get them involved, it’s a good day. So we’ve got to be able to get them involved a little more often, even on not the best passes.”

Sand Springs will look for its first win against the Rams since 2017 when the match kicks off Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

Sports Roundup: Rector and McNally get All-State, Wrestling kicks off season at Bixby

A version of this story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Charles Page High School softball team picked up All-State accolades for the fourth consecutive year this week, and had more than one All-State player for the 17th time in school history.

Raegan Rector (Corner Infield) and JoLee McNally (Utility Outfield) were named to the All-State softball team, and Avery Tanner was named an alternate at Middle Infielder. The All-State games will be played June 11, 2022 at Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond. 

48 Sandite softball players have been named to the All-State team in school history.

Rector led the team in fielding percentage this season at .995 to go with a .352 batting average and .477 slugging percentage. McNally .919 in the field with a .379 batting average and .495 slugging percentage.

Rector, McNally, Tanner, and Lauren Hammock (Utility Outfield) received All-Region accolades as well. 

Rector and Tanner will both be signing collegiate letters of intent to play for Oklahoma Wesleyan University Wednesday, November 10th.

Volleyball

Charley Fahland, Jacelyn Smith, Kasidy Holland, Payton Robbins, and Olivia Dewitt all received Frontier Valley All-Conference honorable mentions after helping their team to a 14-20 record this season. Tehya Johnson and Layla Lenex were named to the All-Conference Second Team. 

All fifteen members of the varsity volleyball team received Academic All Conference accolades, and the team received an OSSAA Academic Achievement award for a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or above.

The volleyball program is currently hiring for two assistant coaching positions, including varsity assistant and middle school coach. Interested applicants can contact derek.jackson@sandites.org for more information.

Wrestling

The wrestling preseason kicked off Saturday at Bixby, where Sand Springs crowned three junior high and one high school champion.

Mitchell Smith, the Sandites’ top performer at last year’s State tournament, got off to a hot start with three pins to win the 152-pound bracket, beating all of his opponents in the first period.

Zander Grigsby placed second at 126, Shane Wolf placed second at 132, James Robey placed second at 152, Carter Goodman placed second at 160, and Adrian Hernandez placed second at 182.

Jesse Moore placed third at 138, Sammy Naugle placed third at 145, Jayden Pait placed fourth at 126, and Brody Ensten placed fourth at 152.

The high school team was missing Blake Jones, Brooks Dudley, and other top competitors who are still focused on football season.

Bailey Copeland, David Richey, and Jaxon Trotter all won titles for the junior high team. Copeland recorded two falls at 73 pounds, Richey had three pins at 112, and Trotter had four pins at 132.

Dawson Briscoe placed second at 80, Brady Moore was second at 119, Kase Skaggs placed third at 98, Ayreson Reiss placed third at 112, Colt Hood was third at 119, Isaac Sensintaffar was third at 126, and Corbin Wooley was fourth at 119.

The Keystone Kids youth wrestling team competed at the Claremore Invitational where Kasen McAffrey, Hudson Waag, Luke Hall, Maddix Spencer, Jase Crain, and Mylum Ache V won first place in their divisions. 

Collecting silver medals for the Keystone Kids were Rixon Hathaway, Rylan Hamby, Karson Waag, Zayden Anderson, Joshua Drury, Samuel Moore, Joshua Compton, Khamdyn Patterson, Jase Morgan, Julian Baker, Caemon Young, Raelie Hamby, and Zailyn Garland. 

Sand Springs Sports Roundup: Mack Taylor and Parker Haling take fourth at Skiatook tournament

A version of this story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Cross Country

The Sandites got their first taste of the postseason Tuesday at the Frontier Valley Conference Meet in Bartlesville. The girls didn’t have a full lineup, but the varsity boys played eighth and the junior high boys placed seventh.

Jazmin Lopez led the varsity girls with a 5K time of 24:32 for 37th place. Alejandro Lopez led the varsity boys in 19:15 for 30th place, closely followed by Noah Hanlon in 19:22 for 33rd. 

Chloe Grona led the junior high girls with an 11:57 two-mile run for fourth place. Taigh Wright led the junior high boys with a time of 11:39 for 13th. 

The varsity teams will return to action Saturday, October 23rd at Mohawk Park in the 6A-East Regional.

Fishing

Sandite duo Mack Taylor and Parker Haling placed fourth at the Oklahoma BASS Nation trail event on Lake Skiatook Saturday, catching three fish totaling 6.29 pounds. On Sunday they caught one fish weighing 1.19 pounds for 37th place. 

Standings have not been updated with this weekend’s results yet, but the duo should rank among the top 10 in the state. The OBN season will take a winter break and return to action April 2nd at Lake Tenkiller.

Softball

The Charles Page High School softball team recently ended the season with an 18-15 record as Regional runners-up. 

Despite not advancing to the State tournament, the Sandites showed flashes of brilliance this year, including wins over Edmond Memorial and El Reno, who did go to State. They pitched three shutouts and won seven games by run rule.

Lauren Hammock led the team in batting average (.446), on-base percentage (.532), and hits (41). Kelsi Hilton batted .413 and led the team in slugging (.543) with a team-best four triples and 30 RBI. Raegan Rector led the team in doubles (11) and Jolee McNally led in runs (36).

Rector led the team in put-outs with 183, and Avery Tanner led in assists with 66. Rector turned 14 double plays and Tanner had 12. Rector was also among the most efficient fielders, holding a .995 fielding percentage on 204 opportunities.

Hilton was the team’s ace pitcher this season, collecting a 10-6 record with a 4.5 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, and a team-high 46 strikeouts. Nataley Crawford went 5-6 in the circle with a 4.2 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, and 42 strikeouts.

The Sandites will graduate five seniors this year: Tanner, McNally, Hammock, Rector, and Taylor Skipper.

Volleyball

Sandite Volleyball wrapped up its season with a 14-20 record, going 2-6 in Frontier Valley Conference action, and winning its home tournament.

The girls played a tougher schedule than they have in the past few years, competing at several A-league tournaments, and 12 of their 20 losses came at the hands of eventual State Qualifiers. 

Payton Robbins led the offense with 259 kills, followed by Kasidy Holland with 204, Layla Lenex with 192, and Jacelyn Smith with 147. Robbins also led the team in aces with 49, followed by Charley Fahland with 36 and Smith with 34. 

Lenex led the team in blocks with 64, Robbins had 31, and Smith had 29. Fahland had a team-high 353 digs, Robbins had 265, and Teyha Johnson had 217. Johnson handled most of the setting, recording 689 assists.

Sand Springs will graduate Smith, Holland, Fahland, and Johnson this year.

Sports Roundup: Softball ends season at Owasso Regional

A version of this story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Sandite fast-pitch softball team wrapped up the season with an 18-15 record, going 2-2 at the 6A Regional playoffs at Owasso last weekend. 

The Sandites beat Muskogee 8-5 in the first round and again 6-1 in the loser’s bracket, but dropped games of 6-1 and 11-1 to the host team and returning State finalists.

In the first game the Sandites made the most of three walks, three errors, and four singles in the top of the first to take an 8-0 lead and held on for the win behind Kelsi Hilton’s pitching.

Avery Tanner scored the only Sandite run of the first game against Owasso on an error, but the Sandites only trailed 3-1 till the fifth when the Rams began to pull ahead.

In the Muskogee rematch Hilton held the Roughers to only one run with three strikeouts, while Lauren Hammock led the offense with two hits, one run, and two RBI.

The host Rams rolled to a six-inning run-rule win in the elimination match, however, with Tanner’s RBI double scoring Kaylei Rake for the lone Sandite run.

Volleyball

The Class 6A No. 16 Sandite volleyball team (14-19) picked up a 3-0 non-conference sweep of 5A No. 12 Glenpool (13-18) on Senior Night, October 5th, with sets of 25-18, 25-16, and 25-12.

Layla Lenex scored 14 kills, Payton Robbins scored 11, and Jacelyn Smith and Kasidy Holland scored 7 apiece. Tehya Johnson recorded 38 assists, Charley Fahland made 13 digs, and Olivia Dewitt served three aces.

On Thursday they fell 3-0 at No. 10 Union (23-9) to wrap up conference action with a 2-6 record. Robbins scored 8 kills with 17 digs, Johnson had 9 digs and 19 assists, and Fahland had 14 digs.

The Sandites will travel to No. 1 Bishop Kelley (26-5) Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. for Regionals with a first-round match against Booker T. Washington (14-20).