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.

Lady Sandite Volleyball sweeps No. 6 Coweta 3-0

Photo: Morgan Miller

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The No. 15 ranked Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (23-13) secured a solid win against 5A No. 6 Coweta (24-16) Thursday night on the road. The Sandites have now beaten the Tigers three times this season, and lost once, but this was their first 3-0 sweep. 

The Sandites got off to a great start in the first set, taking a 7-1 lead before letting the Lady Tigers catch back up. The home team started off with a service error and freshman Devree Youngblood hit an ace. Senior MaKenzie Ward set up back-to-back kills for Ohio State commit Gloria Mutiri and Lee Leslie to give the Sandites a 4-0 lead. 

Sand Springs: 52 kills, 27 errors
Coweta: 33 kills, 23 errors

SS Kills: Mutiri 18, Youngblood 9, Kersgieter 7, Leslie 2, Taylor 2, Bradshaw 2, Ward 2.
CW Kills: Russell 7, Thomas 7, Simpler 6, Casteel 6, Dill 2, Hodges 1, Stiles 1.

SS Assists: Ward 14, Burris 12.
CW Assists: Stiles 16, Thomas 2.

SS Blocks: Mutiri 5, Kersgieter 2, Youngblood 2.
CW Blocks: Russell 2, Thomas 1, Dill 1.

SS Aces: Mutiri 4, Taylor 2, Youngblood 2, Ward 2, Kersgieter 2, Leslie 1.
CW Aces: Casteel 5, Simpler 3.

SS Digs: Kersgieter 14, Mutiri 3, Taylor 2, Leslie 1, Bradshaw 1, Mudd 1, Ward 1.

Coweta freshman Reese Simpler got her team on the board with a tipped ball into a campfire, but the Tigers followed it up with a pair of errors and Mutiri smacked another kill to make it 7-1. 

From there the Home team got back in the game with six-straight kills: three from senior Makenna Russell and a pair of aces from Hannah Casteel to tie it up. Casteel hit a service error for the Sandite side-out, Mutiri scored on a block, and Leslie hit an ace. It was neck and neck from there with the Tigers tying it up with a pair of kills from freshman Linzy Dill and a combined block from Russell and Kaila Thomas. 

Sand Springs finally began to pull away once and for all, winning eight-straight rallies to make it 24-14. Thomas scored her third point of the game to end the streak, but Simpler faulted on the serve to give the game to the Sandites. 

Sand Springs committed only two errors, making it one of their best sets of the season. Coweta committed eleven errors and scored thirteen kills, while the Sandites only needed fourteen kills for the dominating win. The home team never once lead and only tied it three times.

The next two sets would be a lot closer, though the Sandites still lead 73% of the time and the home team only lead for seven rallies between the two games. 

Like the first game, the Sandites got off to a great lead at 8-3 before giving up five straight on two errors, a block by Russell, and a pair of aces by Casteel to tie it at 8-8. It was back and forth from there and this time the Tigers took the lead at 13-12 with a kill from Thomas. Sand Springs reclaimed the lead with a combined block from Youngblood and Holly Kersgieter and held it till Simpler added back-to-back aces to take the lead 20-19. Mutiri scored two-straight for the Sandite lead, then Russell scored two-straight for the Tiger lead. 

After falling behind 23-21, the Sandites used a timeout and came back onto the court pumped up after a "SwiftStrong" chant and scored four straight for the victory. Mutiri scored a kill, then a block to tie it. Kylie Taylor served an ace and Mutiri netted the win on a block.

Sand Springs scored a match-high twenty-one kills in the second set as the Tigers held themselves to a mere four errors against the Sandites' eleven.

The third game was equally competitive with the score tied ten times, though the Tigers only lead twice. Sand Springs pulled to a 6-3 lead with an ace from Mutiri before committing three-straight errors and giving up the lead on a kill from Thomas.

It was the Sandites' turn to go on a run from there with a kill from Youngblood, a pair of errors, and a pair of aces from Ward to make it 11-7. Coweta buckled down with kills from Claire Hodges and Dill and a pair of errors tied it at 11-11. Neither team managed to win two-straight rallies till Heather Stiles faulted on the serve and Mutiri served back-to-back aces to make it 18-16. 

Thomas and Kersgieter exchanged kills then Kersgieter added her second ace of the evening to make it 22-18. Sand Springs nearly had it wrapped up at 24-19 before giving up a pair of errors and an ace to Simpler before finally putting away 25-22 on a Madison Burris set and Mutiri kill. 

Sand Springs committed fourteen errors against seventeen kills in the third set while Coweta committed eight errors and scored eight kills. 

Mutiri lead both teams in scoring with eighteen kills, five blocks, and four aces, followed by Youngblood with nine kills, two blocks, and two aces. Ward and Burris split setting duties with fourteen and twelve assists, respectively. 

Coweta spread out their scoring with seven kills and a block from both Russell and Thomas. Simpler and Casteel each had six kills and Casteel lead both teams with five aces. Stiles handled almost all of the setting with sixteen assists. 

The Sandites have won six-straight sets for two-straight matches and will play their final match of the regular season next Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. at No. 18 Bartlesville (12-17).

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.