CPHS Volleyball: Bixby tops Sandites 2-1 in tournament

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (3-2) got off to a great start Friday morning at the Ed Dubie Field House, winning three-straight matches before falling 2-1 to Bixby (5-1) in a rematch of their Tuesday night season debut. The Spartans swept the Sandites 3-0 in conference play earlier this week, but this time Sand Springs stole a set and nearly won the Sandite Invitational match. 

Bixby won the first set 25-17 but the Sandites actually led in the latter half of the game. The Spartans jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead behind a block and a pair of kills from sophomore standout Olivia Vance, a State Qualifying transfer from Norman North. Sand Springs responded with a hot run from Sophie Singleton, who scored a kill and assisted on a pair of blocks for the 7-6 advantage. Both teams went on five-point streaks to trade the lead. Olivia Dewitt served back to back aces, and the Sandites had their final lead at 13-12. Vance threw down four more kills as the Spartans ran away with the set, and Abby Shook capped the victory with an ace. 

The give and take continued into set two as Bixby turned a 5-1 deficit into a 7-6 lead. They never led after 9-8, but they tied it three times, including at 21-21, to keep the home team on its toes. Payton Robbins didn’t score once in the first set, but caught fire in the second game with two blocks and six kills, including the game winner at 25-22. 

The teams split the first eight rallies of set three but Bixby won four in a row to make it 7-4 and never relinquished their lead. Robbins scored a trio of kills to make it 11-9 but the Spartans held strong to finish 15-10. 

Robbins scored a team-high 11 kills, Tehya Johnson had 19 assists, and Madison Blaylock had 15 digs. Vance led all scorers with 17 kills and two blocks. 

Sand Springs will return to action Saturday at 9:00 a.m. against Edison Prep (2-3), at 11:00 a.m. against Bishop Kelley JV, and at 2:00 p.m. against Northeast Oklahoma Association of Homeschools (NOAH). The tournament is round-robin and will not have a championship match. 

CPHS Volleyball: Sandites win Highway 97 Rivalry match 2-1 against Sapulpa

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (3-1) won its third straight match Friday afternoon at the Ed Dubie Field House, beating Sapulpa 2-1 in the Sandite Invitational. The Chieftains (1-3) won the first set 27-25 in come-from-behind fashion, but the home team won the next two sets 25-10 and 15-13.

Sand Springs led by as much as 22-17 late in the first set, but Tyla Heard scored a kill and an ace to kick off a Chieftain resurgence. Sapulpa won ten of the final thirteen rallies to upset the home team.

Game two wasn’t even close as Jacelyn Smith scored a kill and Teyha Johnson served three aces in an 8-0 start that the visitors never recovered from. Layla Lenex led the way with three kills in that set and Sapulpa committed twelve errors.

The tie-breaker round was far more competitive and Sapulpa led for most of it. After taking a 12-9 lead the Chieftains were poised for victory, but committed a pair of errors to give Sand Springs momentum. Payton Robbins served an ace and Kasidy Holland scored a kill in a five-point run. Heard notched a kill to get the ball back for Sapulpa, but a service error ended the match.

Sandite Volleyball will return to action at 5:00 p.m. in a rematch with Bixby (3-1), who dealt the Sandites a season-opening conference loss on Tuesday.

CPHS Volleyball: Jacelyn Smith stars in 2-0 sweep of Lawton

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team improved to a winning 2-1 record Friday morning with a 2-0 sweep of Lawton in the second round of the Sandite Invitational. The home team won dominant sets of 25-14 and 25-11 at the Ed Dubie Field House.

The first set started on a six-rally run with three kills from Payton Robbins, an ace from Teyha Johnson, and a kill from Jacelyn Smith. The Wolverines struggled with mistakes and the Sandites took their biggest lead at 24-12 in a six-point run with five errors and another Johnson ace. Robbins and Smith recorded three kills apiece in the game.

In set two the Sandites built an 18-1 lead with powerful hitting from Smith, who scored three kills and six aces before the dominant run came to an end. Johnson had two aces before the Wolverines got on the board, and Sophie Singleton scored two kills and a pair of blocks.

Smith led all scorers with seven kills and seven aces, while Johnson led in assists with thirteen. The Sandites had more kills, more aces, more blocks, and less errors than their guests.

Sandite volleyball will return to action at 2:00 p.m. with a Highway 97 Rivalry match against Sapulpa (1-2).

CPHS Volleyball: Sandites beat Tecumseh 2-0 at home tournament

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (1-1) earned its first win of the season Friday morning at the Ed Dubie Field House, beating Tecumseh (1-1) in the first round of the Sandites’ home tournament. Sand Springs won sets of 25-11 and 25-19 in the best-of-three match.

Coach Derek Jackson gave the girls a season goal of winning service and service reception, and they did so handily. Sand Springs served ten aces with only two errors, while Tecumseh served only four aces with seven service errors. The Sandites won every facet of the stat sheet, including kills, blocks, and errors.

Tehya Johnson served an ace to kick off the tournament and Payton Robbins scored three kills en rout to a 6-1 lead before the Savages cut it to 6-4 with a kill from Kalee Thompson. Sand Springs went on another streak with a block from Layla Lenex and a pair of aces from Robbins made it 12-4. Their longest run was nine straight rallies with a trio of aces from Charley Fahland, and Robbins secured the win with a kill.

The Savages briefly managed to take the lead early in set two, but Lenex tied it with a kill and and Olivia Dewitt served an ace for the lead. The second set was more competitive as the Savages scored twice as many kills, but they also committed twice as many errors. With the the lead comfortably secured, the Sandite second string saw more minutes and coasted to the win.

Robbins led the Sandites with eight kills, Johnson had eleven assists, Jacelyn Smith had three blocks, and Madison Blaylock made eleven digs. Audrey Moles paced the Savages with three kills and their lone block.

Sand Springs will return to action at 11:00 a.m. against Lawton (0-2).

CPHS Softball: Sandites roll Bartlesville 12-2

Drew Hawkins rounds third base in a home game against Ponca City.

The Charles Page High School varsity softball team improved to 3-0 on the season with a 12-2 non-district win over Bartlesville (1-1) Thursday evening on the road. The game was the biggest win yet for the Sandites, who have won their first three games by at least eight runs apiece.

Sand Springs jumped out to an early lead as Madison Lee singled and scored on a fielder’s choice. Next up was Olivia Alexander with an RBI double to score Avery Tanner in the second, then Brooklyn Harper scored on a passed ball for a 3-0 lead.

Macie Schaper got the home team on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the second, then Shaileigh Gilkey made it a one-run game with an RBI single in the third.

The Sandites padded their lead in the fourth, kicking off the inning with three straight singles. Drew Hawkins scored on an RBI single from Alexander, then Nataley Crawford hit a two-run triple. Lee sacrificed to bring in Crawford, then Raegan Rector and Jaden Jordan hit back-to-back doubles to make it 9-2.

The next two innings went scoreless, but the Sandites had another hot streak in the seventh. Jordan and Hawkins picked up walks. Tanner scored Jordan on a double, then Alexander hit a two-run single for the final runs of the game.

Sophomore pitcher Nataley Crawford (1-0, 4-2) picked up her first win of the season, throwing seven hits, five strikeouts, and two walks in seven innings. Tanner and Alexander had three hits apiece, Tanner had three runs, and Alexander had four RBI.

Sand Springs softball will return to action Friday morning in the Broken Arrow Tournament. Originally scheduled for Arrowhead Park in Broken Arrow, the games have been moved to Sand Springs due to wet fields. The girls will play Silo (2-1) at 10:00 a.m. and Mustang (2-0) at 12:00 p.m.

CPHS Volleyball: Bixby sweeps Sandites 3-0 in season opener

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The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (0-1) suffered a 3-0 loss in its season-opener Tuesday night at the Ed Dubie Field House. The Bixby Spartans (1-0) won sets of 26-24, 25-19, and 25-21 in the Frontier Valley Conference match-up.

Early in the match it looked like the Sandites would run away with it, taking a 7-1 lead behind a handful of Spartan errors and a pair of blocks. The visitors came storming back, winning twelve straight rallies for the 14-8 lead, thanks in part to five aces from freshman Raegan Vernon.

A service error late in the set kicked off a Sandite comeback attempt. Olivia Dewitt scored an ace and Kasidy Holland scored a pair of kills for the 23-21 advantage, but a pair of errors tied it up. Holland and Jacelyn Smith combined on a block, but Olivia Vance tied it again and a pair of errors gave the Spartans the win.

Bixby jumped out to a 7-2 lead in set two before Sand Springs surged back. Dewitt scored a pair of aces and Smith combined on a block with Teyha Johnson for the 9-8 lead. Things stayed close till the Spartans went on a six-point run to make it 23-16 and the home team never recovered.

Sand Springs never led in the third set but they kept it fairly competitive. Bailey Steele served an ace and Vance hit a pair of kills for a 23-15 lead, but Johnson set up kills for Smith, Layla Lenex, and Payton Robbins to cut it to 24-21 before Baylea Norris secured the win for the Spartans.

“We had pretty good hustle,” said second-year Head Coach Derek Jackson. “We were diving for balls and everything but our game plan was to win serve and serve-receive and I definitely don’t think we won that. Our serve-receive was pretty spotty and that put us in a tough position to be offensive. For them it was easy balls coming their way so they were able to go attack. We just didn’t put enough pressure on them.”

The Spartans served 14 aces and committed ten service errors, while Sand Springs served only five aces with five service errors. Robbins led the Sandites in kills with eight, Johnson led in assists with 16, and Madison Blaylock led in digs with 19. Vance and Baylea Norris combined for 21 kills for the Spartans.

Sandite Volleyball will return to action Friday at 9:00 a.m. when they take on Tecumseh in the first round of their home tournament. They will play Lawton (0-1) at 11:00 a.m., Highway 97 rival Sapulpa (0-1) at 2:00 p.m., and will have a rematch with Bixby at 5:00 p.m. Fans will be required to wear masks at all home events. Bixby will travel to Bishop Kelley Thursday at 6:00 p.m.