CPHS Volleyball: Sandites end season in 3-0 loss to Southmoore

The Class 6A No. 12 ranked Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (18-14) suffered a season-ending upset Tuesday evening in Norman, falling 3-0 to unranked Southmoore (11-21) in the first round of the Regional Tournament. The Sabercats went on to fall 3-1 to the host team from No. 5 Norman North (22-10), who won its sixth-consecutive Regional title.

Southmoore won sets of 25-22, 25-14, and 25-19 against Sand Springs. Norman North swept U.S. Grant 25-3, 25-4, and 25-9, then beat Southmoore 25-23, 25-13, and 25-20, while giving up the third set 25-20.

The Sabercats came out hard and fast against Sand Springs, taking a 6-0 lead behind kills from Emma Coburn, Myra Cartmill, Emma Upthegrove, and Kiaya Jordan. The Sandites outscored their foes 22-19 for the remainder of the set, but were unable to overcome the early deficit. Southmoore led by as much as 24-17 before Devree Youngblood scored three kills to aid a five-point run, cutting it to 24-22. Jordan knocked down the match point.

The Sandites had a stronger start in game two, taking a 4-2 lead with kills from Vanessa Wyrick and Cloe Campfield. Heather Brumley kicked off a 9-1 run for the resurgent Sabercats who coasted to a 25-14 win.

Jordan posted a kill and Upthegrove served an ace for a 2-0 start and Southmoore never trailed in set three. Upthegrove secured the 25-19 win on a tipped ball to complete the sweep.

Youngblood, an Oklahoma Baptist University commit, led all scorers with 14 kills and 14 digs for her third-consecutive double-double. Madison Burris led the Sandites with 12 assists, closely followed by Raylynn Mong with 11. Myra Cartmill led the Sabercats with 12 kills and Jordan had 11.

Norman North will advance to the eight-team State Tournament quarterfinals Monday at Claremore High School.

SM 3 CPHS 0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-19)
Kills: SM 41, CPHS 31.
Blocks: SM 5, CPHS 6.
Aces: SM 6, CPHS 1.
Service Errors: SM 5, CPHS 6.
Total Errors: SM 17, CPHS 23.

(Sand Springs stats)
Kills: Youngblood 14, Campfield 7, Wyrick 5, Burris 5.
Assists: Burris 12, Mong 11, Youngblood 1, Blaylock 1, Smith 1.
Solo Blocks: Smith 1.
Assisted Blocks: Smith 4, Campfield 3, Harris 2, Wyrick 1.
Digs: Youngblood 14, Blaylock 8, Wicker 7, Mong 6, Campfield 4, Burris 2, Harris 1, Wyrick 1, Smith 1.
Aces: Mong 1.

(Southmoore partial stats)
Kills: Cartmill 12, Jordan 11, Brumley 8, Coburn 4, Scott 3, Upthegrove 2, Canas 1.
Aces: Upthegrove 3, Cartmill 1, Scott 1, Davidson 1.
Assisted Blocks: Upthegrove 3, Scott 3, Coburn 2, Cartmill 2.

Regional Results

Putnam North 3-0 Muskogee
Broken Arrow 3-0 Bartlesville
Broken Arrow 3-0 Putnam North

Edmond Memorial 3-0 Putnam City
Edmond Memorial 3-1 Yukon

Edmond North 3-0 Northwest Classen
Edmond North 3-0 Moore

Union 3-2 Choctaw
Mustang 3-0 Westmoore
Mustang 3-0 Union

Southmoore 3-0 Sand Springs
Norman North 3-0 U.S. Grant
Norman North 3-1 Southmoore

Stillwater 3-0 Lawton
Deer Creek 3-0 Sapulpa
Deer Creek 3-1 Stillwater

Norman 3-0 Midwest City
Edmond Santa Fe 3-0 Putnam West
Edmond Santa Fe 3-0 Norman

Owasso 3-1 Bixby
Jenks 3-0 Booker T. Washington
Jenks 3-0 Owasso

CPHS Volleyball Preview: No. 12 Sand Springs travels to No. 5 Norman North for Regionals

The 2019 Sandite Volleyball team won their home tournament this season and will look for their second title Tuesday at Regionals.

Class 6A No. 5 ranked Norman North High School (20-10) will host No. 12 Sand Springs (18-13), Southmoore (10-20) and U.S. Grant (9-17) for the Region 5 Tournament Tuesday, October 15th, beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Norman North will play U.S. Grant at 4:30 p.m., Sand Springs will play Southmoore at 6:00 p.m., and the Championship match will be played at 7:30 p.m.

Norman North High School
1809 Stubbeman Avenue
Norman, OK 73069

None of the four teams have ever won a State title, but Norman North made the finals in 2016 and 2017 and have won five consecutive Regional Championships. U.S. Grant hasn’t had a winning season since 2017 and Southmoore hasn’t had one since 2013. Sand Springs is currently in its first winning season since 2016.

Norman North is 7-4 on neutral sites and 12-9 on the road. They went 4-1 at the Union Invitational, 2-2 at the Broken Arrow Invitational, and 3-2 at the Jenks Invitational. They haven’t met Sand Spring or U.S. Grant this season, but swept Southmoore 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-17) last month. The Timberwolves are 17-9 against 6A opponents, 2-8 against Top Five teams, 10-10 against Top Ten teams, and 16-10 against ranked opponents. They are coming off back-to-back losses.

Sand Springs is 3-4 on neutral sites and 7-11 on the road this season. They went 0-5 at the Union Invitational, but won their home tournament and placed second at the Mustang Tournament. They have yet to meet any of their Regional opponents this year. They are 11-9 against 6A opponents, 1-6 against Top Five teams, 2-10 against Top Ten teams, and 6-13 against ranked opponents. They have won their past two matches.

Southmoore is 4-10 on neutral sites and 7-16 on the road. They went 1-4 at the Broken Arrow Invitational, 1-4 at the Bishop Kelley Tournament, and 2-3 at the Owasso Tournament. They haven’t played Sand Springs or U.S. Grant this year, and fell 3-0 to Norman North. They are 9-19 against 6A opponents, 0-8 against Top Five teams, 1-14 against Top Ten teams, and 3-17 against ranked opponents. They are coming off a 3-0 upset of No. 10 Norman.

U.S. Grant is 4-5 on neutral sites and 7-12 on the road. They went 0-4 at the Best of the West, won the Hennessey Tournament, went 1-2 at their home tournament, and 1-2 at the All City Tournament. They are 1-5 against 6A opponents and 0-3 against ranked foes. They haven’t played any top-ten teams this season.

Lady Sandites dominate Moore Lions 3-1 in Broken Arrow Tournament

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief
Photo: Morgan Miller

After dropping the first two matches of the Broken Arrow Volleyball Tournament Friday morning, the Charles Page High School Lady Sandites (11-7) got back in the win column with a 3-1 victory over the Moore Lions (1-11). 

The Sandites took a quick 3-0 lead on errors before Bri Maxwell scored the first kill of the game. Gloria Mutiri scored the first Sandite kill on an assist from MaKenzie Ward for the 6-2 advantage and soon followed it up with an ace. A pair of kills from Kaylee Walker helped Moore close the gap to 8-7 before the Sandites pulled back ahead with a pair of aces from Ward. 

The Sandites gave up three straight errors soon after and Walker and Ashley Vap blocked an attack from Madison Burris to tie it up at 11-11. The teams battled back and forth from there with the Lions taking a brief lead on an ace from Walker before Burris got payback with a solo block of her own. Mutiri scored a kill on a set from Ward, then combined with Burris for another block. Lee Leslie added a kill, Moore committed a fault, and Devree Youngblood served an ace for the 19-14 advantage. Moore closed the gap once more to 21-20 before Sand Springs went on a run with Ward scoring a kill and setting up attacks for Holly Kersgieter and Leslie for the 25-20 win.

In the second set it was Moore who took an early advantage, surging to a 12-5 lead before a service error broke their momentum. Madison Ward scored a kill and the Lions committed a series of faults to cut their lead to 14-12 before going on another run to make it 18-12. Mutiri came to the rescue soon after with four straight aces and Kersgieter added a kill to tie it up at 21-21. Moore picked up two points on errors, but Kersgieter scored another kill and MaKenzie Ward hit a pair of aces en route to a 25-23 Sandite victory.

The third set was a shootout in the beginning before communication problems tied up the Sandites and a series of campfires and errors gave Moore the 14-8 lead. Kersgieter scored back-to-back aces to make it 17-13, but the Lions wouldn't slow down and Maxwell scored three straight kills to win it 25-15.

The fourth game looked like it would belong wholly to the Lions after they started 5-0 with kills from Maxwell, Bri Prescott, and two aces from Walker. A service error from Walker got the Sandites on the board and Burris scored an ace of her own. Mutiri and Leslie combined to block Maxwell and a Lion error cut the lead to 5-4.

Sand Springs tied it up at 7-7 with a kill from Mutiri, and the girls took the lead as Mutiri served four straight aces. Prescott broke it up with a kill, but Kersgieter took a turn hitting and scored a pair of kills. Youngblood capped off a series of errors with an ace to push the advantage to 19-10 and MaKenzie Ward and Mutiri added some late kills for the 25-12 win.

Mutiri led in the scoring with 23 kills and nine aces, followed by MaKenzie Ward with eight kills, four aces, and a team-high eleven assists. Kersgieter also had eight kills and two aces. Leslie and Youngblood scored three kills apiece and Madison Ward scored two. 

The Lady Sandites placed third in their pool with a 1-2 record after dropping matches to the Northeast Oklahoma Association of Homeschools (3-2) and No. 3 Norman North (10-2). The girls will play in the Silver bracket tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. against No. 20 Bartlesville (2-7). If they lose their first match they'll play for seventh place at noon. If they win, they'll play for fifth place at 1:30 p.m.

Lady Sandites fall 3-1 despite valiant effort against #3 Norman North

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The No. 18 ranked Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (10-8) met their match in the No. 3 Norman North Timberwolves (10-2) Friday afternoon at the Broken Arrow Tournament. It took the Sandites two games to find their rhythm against one of the most aggressive teams they’ve met this season.

Norman North utterly dominated the first two sets 25-7 and 25-8. Sand Springs managed to tie the first game 2-2 with a block combo from Gloria Mutiri and Lee Leslie, but the Timberwolves ran away with the next six rallies before Mutiri found a set from Mackenzie Ward for the kill. Norman grabbed five more points from there, gave up one on an error, then stole four more for a 17-4 lead. The Sandites only scored three more points, all of which came from errors.

In the second set the Timberwolves exploded to 9-1 before Leslie set up Holly Kersgieter for the kill. Leslie scored a kill off Ward, then combined on a block with Mutiri at 14-4. Mutiri added an ace and Kenzie Bradshaw scored a kill, but the Timberwolves coasted safely along for the win.

The Lady Sandites found their footing in the third game and doubled down on the Timberwolves for an early 8-4 lead thanks to kills from Mutiri and a block from Kenzie Bradshaw. Norman battled back with kills from Hallie Hembree, Lexi Thompson, and Maggie Davis, then tied things up at 9-9 as Davis and Lauren Kersey blocked a Mutiri spike. 

The teams fought back and forth for the lead and eventually Norman pulled away as far as 18-13 with a kill from Hembree, but the Sandites got back within a point thanks to a Bradshaw kill, Mutiri block, and Lee ace. Thompson found Abbey Woodrow's set for a kill, but Mutiri scored three straight with a kill and two solo blocks, capped off by a Baylee Mudd ace for the 21-19 lead. Ward set up Mutiri for back-to-back kills to solidify the win at 25-20.

The fourth set started with promise as neither team posted a three-point lead till halfway through the game. After Ward set up Kersgieter for a kill to tie it at 8-8, Norman went on a run with six straight rallies before handing the ball over on a serve error. The Sandites were unable to capitalize on the side-out and the Timberwolves went back to piling on the kills for a 25-12 victory. 

Mutiri led the Sandites with nine kills and seven total blocks, including three solo. Bradshaw and Kersgieter each added three, and Leslie, Madison Burris, and Mudd each scored two.

Gloria Mutiri scores 22 kills in 3-2 loss to Victory Christian

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (10-5) gave the 4A No. 4 Victory Christian Conquerors (9-3) a run for their money Thursday night at Victory. The Conquerors likely thought the match would be a breeze after winning the first set 25-14, but Sand Springs surged to victory in the next two games.

The Lady Sandites managed a mere six kills in the first game. Gloria Mutiri got the girls on the board with an assist from MaKenzie Ward, but Victory held the lead at 3-1. Senior Lee Leslie picked up a point on a solo block, but Senior Andrea Redmond responded with a tipped ball for the kill. Mutiri scored one of her signature spikes, but Redmond got in another tipped ball and the Conquerors gained a point from a Mutiri error for the 8-3 advantage. 

The Lady Sandites briefly closed the gap to 16-13 thanks to a pair of Victory errors and a kill from Mutiri off MaKenzie Ward, but the Conquerors surged ahead with four straight rally wins and an ace from Redmond. Mutiri added one more kill before Victory won the next five rallies to end things 25-14.

In the second game the Conquerors started 2-0 once again with an error from Leslie and a blocked shot by Redmond, but the Sandites battled neck-and-neck and tied things up at 3-3 with a block from Makenna Cypert, and 4-4 as Mutiri blocked a spike from Redmond. Redmond committed an error to give the Sandites the lead and Cypert added an ace to push it to 6-4. 

Sand Springs held the lead for seventeen-straight rallies before committing three straight faults to tie it at 13-13. Redmond scored a pair of kills to make it 16-14, but another Cypert ace gave Sand Springs the upper hand at 18-17. The game tied twice more at 23-23 and 24-24 before Lee Leslie got the go-ahead kill and Mutiri added a block for the 26-24 win. 

In game three the two teams exchanged errors till Mutiri scored the first kill for the Sandites to make it 3-2. The teams traded the lead three more times before Victory finally started to build ground on the Sandites and push the advantage to 17-12. A timeout for the Sandites made for a scoring catalyst and the girls won four straight rallies to force the Conquerors to use a timeout of their own. 

Freshman Devree Youngblood scored a pair of back-to-back kills and Mutiri tied things up at 22-22. A consecutive touching call gave Sand Springs the lead, Madison Ward served up an ace, and Holly Kersgieter scored the winning kill off an assist from Madison Burris. The Sandites led the match 2-1.

The fourth game was decidedly Victory's from the get-go. Youngblood scored an early kill to make it 1-1, but Victory won the next eight straight rallies. Mutiri and Redmond exchanged kills, but Redmond managed to block a pair of Mutiri's spikes and the Conquerors furthered their lead to 14-3. 

Mutiri picked up a solo block and the Sandites added another point on a waffle. Kersgieter added a block and MaKenzie Ward scored an ace, then Mutiri tipped a kill into a campfire. Ultimately the early errors were insurmountable and the Sandites lost the set 25-13.

It came down to the final set. Sand Springs scored first on an error, but gave the point right back and allowed an ace. Redmond added three more kills for an 8-5 advantage, but Sand Springs won three straight rallies with kills from Kersgieter and Youngblood to tie it up. 

Victory used a timeout to break up the Sandite momentum and the girls were unable to score again for the duration, save for a service error by the Conquerors. Victory narrowly grabbed the 15-9 win for the match.

Mutiri led her team in scoring by a landslide with 22 kills, including five blocks. MaKenzie Ward registered fifteen assists as well as two aces. Redmond led the scoring for both teams with 23 total kills including three blocks and an ace. 

The Lady Sandites will return to action Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. in round one of the Broken Arrow Tournament against Tulsa NOAH Home School. Immediately after that match they will play No. 3 Norman North (7-2) and at 3:00 p.m. they will take on Moore (1-8). 

Oklahoma dominates Georgia 68-2 in Dual Nationals round one

By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

Team Oklahoma got off to a fast start against Team Georgia Blue in the first round of the Junior Greco-Roman Dual Nationals Wednesday morning, building up a massive lead before the wrestling even started.

Jet Taylor, Jacob Butler, and Jaxen Gilmore received forfeits for 126 to 138. Tuttle's Brik Filippo wasted no time in putting points on the board with a 10-0 tech fall over Khyree Alexander, then Sand Springs's Payton Scott took down Dustin Berry 10-0 in thirty seconds flat. Ezequiel Rubio pinned Cole White in a quick twenty then Nick Mahan teched Chandler Miele 13-2.

Bear Hughes continued the winning streak with an 11-0 tech over Devyn Villafane. Zach Marcheselli received a forfeit, Tanner Hawkins picked up a 16-6 tech fall over Richard Walker, then Trenton Lieutance, Alex Fields, and Wyatt Adams all received forfeits.  Alec McDoulett teched Brandon Foster 11-0 and Westmoore's Dalton Duffield wrapped things up with a 12-0 tech of Alex Cain for a final score of 68-2 with no matches lost.

Up next for Oklahoma is Team Pennsylvania who solidly defeated Team Kansas Red 49-12 in round one.