Lee Leslie signs LOI to play college volleyball at Oklahoma Wesleyan University

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Seven Sand Springs High School students signed letters-of-intent Wednesday morning in the Ed Dubie Field House, bringing the grand total of college-bound athletes from the Class of 2017 to fourteen.

Sand Springs has two softball players, two cross-country runners, two baseball players, one basketball player, three football players, one volleyball player, and two soccer players all headed to the next level.

Lee Leslie accepted a volleyball scholarship to Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The Eagles are coached by Tracie Gillette and compete in the NAIA and NCCAA. They finished the 2016 season with a 19-11 record. Leslie was a starting player for the Lady Sandites this year, who went 24-14 before falling in the second round of Regionals. 

Lady Sandite Volleyball defeats Yukon 3-1; finishes season with 25-14 record

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Sand Springs: 63 kills, 44 errors
Yukon: 40 kills, 33 errors

SS Kills: Mutiri 24, Youngblood 11, Leslie 11, Burris 4, Madison Ward 2, Cypert 1.
Yukon Kills: Fowler 8, Brown 7, Benge 6, Blowers 5, Scott 3, Sauser 2, Collins 2, Hartman 1.

SS Assists: MaKenzie Ward 24, Burris 13, Leslie 2, Madison Ward 2.
YHS Assists: Fowler 20, Scott 1.

SS Blocks: Mutiri 9.
YHS Blocks: Sauser 2, Blowers 1, Brown 1.

SS Aces: Leslie 1, Burris 1, Youngblood 1, Mutiri 1.
YHS Aces: Fowler 1.

SS Digs: Burris 15, Leslie 14, Mutiri 7, Burris 4, MaKenzie Ward 4, Madison Ward 3, Mudd 2, Youngblood 1, Cypert 1.

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (25-14) saw their season come to and at Edmond Santa Fe High School Tuesday evening in the Regional Tournament. After winning their first match 3-1 against No. 18 Yukon (9-19), the Sandites were unable to overcome the host team and fell in straight sets.

No. 4 Edmond Santa Fe (23-9) has a highly decorated volleyball program with a long tradition of success. They have seen the State finals eleven times, secured five State Championships, and have won twenty-four consecutive Regional Championships. 

In the first match the Lady Sandites won their first two sets without difficulty before giving up the third to the Millers. 

Sand Springs emerged to a quick 6-0 lead before freshman Izzy Brown was able to get her team on the board. The Millers began to battle back and got close to tying it thanks to a series of Sandite errors and a block from Emma Sauser. After allowing the score to narrow to 13-11, Sand Springs exploded for the 25-16 win with 15 team kills, 6 of which came from Ohio State committed junior Gloria Mutiri. Both teams committed ten errors in the first set.

In the second game it was the Millers who took an early lead, working up an 8-4 advantage before the Sandites went on a run and tied it at 11-11 with a kill from Makenna Cypert before surging ahead to a 15-11 lead on a kill from Lee Leslie. Sand Springs led for the rest of the game and won 25-22. The Sandites stepped back their offense, scoring only thirteen times against eleven errors, while the Millers improved on offense with eleven kills, but gave up twelve errors. 

In the third set the Sandites actually led 74% of the time, far more than they did in the second or third sets, but the Millers scored when it mattered most. Sand Springs took a quick 9-3 advantage with a series of solo blocks from Mutiri and an ace from Madison Burris. After Sand Springs took a 2-1 lead, the Millers didn't tie it up again till 16-16 on a kill from Sidney Benge. It was back and forth from there and the Millers took their first lead at 20-19. Burris set up Mutiri for the tie, and an error from Haley Fowler gave the Sandites the last advantage of the game at 21-10. Back to back kills from Brown off Fowler sets gave Yukon the lead at 22-21. Fowler and Sauser combined to block a shot from Mutiri and the Fowler-Brown combo secured the Yukon win, 25-21. Sand Springs led in kills with fifteen, but added twelve errors to the Millers' thirteen kills. The Millers had their best offensive output of the night and were solid on defense as well with only six errors. 

The fourth set was far more competitive for the duration and Sand Springs only led 45% of the time with eleven ties. Neither team won two-straight rallies till the Sandites took a 6-4 lead with a kill from freshman Devree Youngblood and a pair of Miller errors. The Sandites gave up a pair of errors of their own to tie it at 6-6 and the back-and-forth melee continued. Yukon worked up as much as a 15-11 lead before the Sandites won four-straight rallies to tie it at 15-15. The teams exchanged the lead till the Sandites surged ahead once and for all with a kill from Youngblood off a set from MaKenzie Ward to make it 19-18. The Millers fought to the end, but the Sandites got the win 25-21. Sand Springs had a match-best twenty kills in the set, doubling the Millers ten kills. They also more than doubled the Millers on errors, giving up eleven points to the Millers' five. 

Yukon utilized their timeouts well throughout the match, scoring the first point after timeout ten out of eleven times.

Sand Springs: 27 kills, 26 errors
Edmond SF: 46 kills, 21 errors

SS Kills: Mutiri 15, Youngblood 5, Leslie 1, Burris 1, Taylor 1, MaKenzie Ward 1.
ESF Kills: Muse 18, Scott 8, Scholl 6, Peacock 6, Robinson 4, Barakhoyeva 1, Hungate 1, Moore 1.

SS Assists: Burris 9, MaKenzie Ward 4, Leslie 1.
ESF Assists: Scholl 22, Moore 1.

SS Blocks: Mutiri 3, Youngblood 1.
ESF Blocks: Robinson 2, Peacock 2, Muse 1, McCrary 1.

SS Aces: Burris 1, MaKenzie Ward 1.
ESF Aces: Scott 4, Scholl 1, Muse 1, Barakhoyeva 1, Moore 1.

SS Digs: Mutiri 6, Leslie 6, Taylor 4, Youngblood 3, Mudd 3, MaKenzie Ward 3, Madison Ward 2, Burris 1, Wise 1, Wyrick 1.

The Regional finals were a whole different beast from the Millers. Sand Springs has only faced a handful of teams this season on the level of the Wolves and had difficulty keeping up the high powered offense. Most teams have one or two powerful hitters that dominate the ball, but Edmond had several making it impossible to double up on anyone defensively.

The first set only saw three ties and the Sandites only led for one rally, though they were competitive for much of the first half. After the Wolves took an early 5-1 lead, the Sandites doubled down to take the lead at 7-6 thanks to a pair of blocks and a kill from Mutiri. Edmond quickly tied it up and never relinquished the lead for the duration. Sand Springs secured seven kills and committed twelve errors, while the Wolves scored thirteen kills and committed six errors.

In the second game Sand Springs toned back the errors to nine while scoring seven kills compared to the Wolves' sixteen kills and six errors.

The third set was the most competitive, though the Wolves still led for 85% of the game. Sand Springs only led thrice, but was within two points of their foes for nearly half the set. The Sandites recorded thirteen kills in the game, nearly as many as the first two sets combined. They committed only five errors, but were still overcome 25-21. The home team scored a match-high seventeen kills with nine errors. 

The Sandites' season came to an end with their first winning record since long before any of the current students were in high school. The team will only be graduating two seniors this year and will be in good shape next year as the young talent competes in club ball throughout the summer.

Gloria Mutiri commits to Ohio State University for volleyball

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Charles Page High School senior Gloria Mutiri is the first Sandite of the Class of 2018 to officially declare her college intentions. The 6'2" left handed outside hitter announced her commitment to NCAA Division One Ohio State University this past weekend.

Mutiri has been the leading scorer all three years at Sand Springs, which is remarkable considering she only began playing volleyball in the eighth grade. In her time as team captain she has helped guide the ladies to their first winning season in years and has also been a major factor as a two-year starter on the girls' basketball team. 

She has been named Sandite of the Week twice in the last year, once for volleyball and once for basketball. She averages more than 4 kills and 3 digs per set this season and has recorded 55 solo blocks and 41 aces. Her season-best is 31 kills against Tulsa NOAH, though she also scored 30 against Bixby and 29 against Union in 5-set shootouts. 

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The Ohio State Buckeyes are currently ranked seventeenth in the nation with a 10-2 ranking, having lost 3-2 to No. 13 BYU and unranked Missouri State. They finished last season 25-10 overall, 12-8 in the Big Ten, and 11-3 at home. Head Coach Geoff Carlston is in his ninth season at the Buckeye program and has gone 171-104 in his career there. Their last season came to a close at the NCAA Regional Semifinal with a 3-2 loss to Wisconsin.

Edit: This article previously identified Mutiri as a senior in the Class of 2017, which was incorrect.

Lady Sandite Volleyball upsets No. 14 Bixby Spartans 3-2

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team is continuing to impress in what could quite possibly be one of the best years in Sandite Volleyball history. It's been a long time since the girls have had a winning season, and they currently hold a 20-11 record and are ranked sixteenth by the OSSAA Coaches' Poll, despite the fact that just last week they upset the No. 10 Union Redskins (8-10). This past weekend the Lady Sandites went 6-2 at the Catoosa Port City Classic, and Tuesday they scored yet another upset over the No. 14 Bixby Lady Spartans (10-10).

At the Port City Classic this weekend, the Sandites defeated 5A No. 11 Claremore (12-16) 2-0 (25-23, 25-16), 4A No. 8 Catoosa (14-15) 2-0 (25-12, 25-16), 5A No. 5 Collinsville (17-6) 2-1 (25-22, 14-25, 15-12), 5A No. 7 Coweta 2-1 (23-25, 25-12, 15-4), 4A No. 1 Metro Christian (27-6) 2-0 (25-23, 25-19) and 5A No. 6 Shawnee 2-1 (21-25, 25-22, 15-11). They lost 2-0 to 4A No. 3 Victory Christian (18-5) in pool play with close sets of 25-23 and 25-21, and were eliminated in bracket play with a rematch against Metro Christian who won 2-0 with sets of 25-19 and 25-16.

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Located at the 41st St. and H97 intersection, next to Super Save.

The Sandites were neck and neck with the Spartans for most of the match Tuesday, sometimes giving up the lead, but always competing. The Sandites sided out on a service error to start the game 1-0 and Lee Leslie set up Gloria Mutiri for a kill. Rachel Fisher returned the favor for the Spartans, but Mutiri tacked on another, followed by two Spartan errors, then Mutiri and Makenna Cypert combined on a block for the 6-1 advantage.

Bixby had the edge from there and battled back to tie it up at 10-10 with a kill from Fisher. Fisher and Mutiri both wore 21 on their uniform and the two were in a shootout for most of the match.

After Fisher briefly gave her team the 11-10 lead, the Sandites went on a run with a pair of kills from Leslie, a shot from Mutiri, and an ace from Devree Youngblood to make it 15-11. The Spartans tried to keep up from there, but the Sandites pulled ahead for a 25-18 win. Leslie scored a pair back-to-back aces late in the match and Mutiri added one as well.

The second set was marred by errors for the Sandites who handed Bixby nearly as many points as they earned. The first four Spartan points of the set were from Sandite errors, but the home team quickly took an 8-4 lead with kills from Mutiri and Holly Kersgieter after cleaning up the errors. 

The Spartans started to play then and scored a series of kills of their own and capped it off with an ace from Kendra Horowitz to tie it at 8-8. The teams exchanged a pair of service errors and continued to battle closely till Mutiri and Kersgeiter gave their team a 12-10 edge, followed by a pair of Spartan faults. 

Bixby tied it up again at 15-15 as Kayla Little and Sophie Childs combined to block one of Mutiri's hard-hitting spikes. The Sandites briefly trailed after Gaby Justus took the lead for the Spartans, but Kersgieter scored an ace to tie it at 21-21. The Sandites gave up three-straight errors from there, however, and Little notched the game-winner at 25-22 to tie the match.

The third set also went to the Spartans who benefited from thirteen Sandite errors. Tori Holt entered the game for the Spartans and notched five kills in the set. Sand Springs trailed by as much as 17-11 midway through the game before battling back to tie it up at 23-23 with an ace from Kendall Wise. Bixby came out of a timeout to score on a hit from Little and a Sandite error clinched the game for the Spartans to take the 2-1 lead.

The Sandites cleaned up their act a bit in the fourth set and the Spartans had to put in extra effort for a match-best eighteen kills. The game got off to a good start with an ace from Baylee Mudd followed by three-straight Spartan errors. The Spartans tied things up at 8-8, but Sand Springs went back on the run and held the lead till Holt hit an ace at 14-14. 

Youngblood took the lead back from the Spartans at 17-17 and Kersgieter scored back-to-back kills for the lead. The game tied up four more times from there and went into extra points. Tied at 24-24, Mutiri took the lead, Little tied it up then took the lead for the Spartans. A Spartan collision tied things up and a consecutive contact call gave the Sandites the lead. The set ended as Justus sent a spike out of bounds and the Sandites secured the win at 28-26. 

The final set was a "never count yourself out" type of game as the Spartans took the early lead and held it to the very end. Bixby lead by as much as 8-4 after Little scored three-straight, but the Sandites got within a point at 10-9 after back-to-back kills from Mutiri. Mudd built a campfire on a tipped ball to make it 12-11 and a Spartan error tied the match. The Spartans committed another pair of errors and Madison Burris set up Mutiri for the game-winner, 15-12. 

Mutiri lead in scoring for the Sandites with 30 kills, followed by Kersgieter with 15, Leslie with 8, and Youngblood with 7. Fisher and Little split the scoring for Bixby with 18 kills each, followed by Holt with 9, Justus with 7, and Childs with 6. Burris was the leading setter for the Sandites with 20 assists, followed by MaKenzie Ward with 19. 

The Lady Sandites have only six matches left this season before the Regional playoffs. They'll return to action Thursday at Booker T. Washington (8-16). Freshmen start at 4:00 p.m., followed by JV at 5:00 and Varsity at 6:00.