The Charles Page High School varsity volleyball team (4-11) has been in a rough patch lately due to brutal scheduling and an unrelenting string of top-tier competitors.
They placed sixth of seven teams at the round-robin Broken Arrow Invitational this past weekend, but all five losses came to top-ten ranked 6A programs, and in the last three days they have met three top-five opponents.
On Thursday the Lady Sandites were swept 3-0 by 4A No. 2 Victory Christian (9-3) with sets of 25-12, 25-19, and 25-13. 6A No. 2 Norman North (11-3) got a sweep Friday (25-13, 25-14, 25-14), as did No. 3 Edmond Memorial (10-1) (25-20, 25-13, 25-13). They won set three 25-23 against No. 7 Broken Arrow (4-5), but lost the others 25-9, 25-20, and 25-15.
The streak finally came to a close with a 3-1 win over Bartlesville (2-6), who they also defeated in conference play earlier this month. After suffering a 25-9 clobbering in the first set, the Lady Sandites surged back to win 25-20, 25-19, and 25-22. That momentum carried into the rest of the day and they made a commendable effort against their next two opponents.
Sand Springs got off to an incredible start against No. 6 Edmond North (9-5), taking a 5-0 lead with two aces from Madison Burris and two kills from Vanessa Wyrick with Devree Youngblood assisting. Cloe Campfield made it 7-1 with an ace and the Sandites held their distance comfortably till a five-point run made it 16-15. Wyrick broke that steak up with a kill, but the Huskies went right back to it and came from behind for a 25-19 victory.
Morgan Goerke served an ace and an error to start the second set, then Lily DeGrace and Youngblood traded kills. Campfield notched an ace for a 3-2 lead and the game tied three times before the Huskies put it in the bag. An eight point run put it at 17-7 in Edmond’s favor and the Sandites never recovered, falling 25-14.
Game three was a beat down right out of the gate. Edmond took a 2-0 lead, Raylynn Mong aced to tie it, DeGrace posted a block and Cheyenne Henry tied it with a kill. Then the Huskies went on an eight point run with four aces from Sarah Holmes. Holmes finally made an error, but Kamryn Bacus picked it up from there with a kill and three aces before Youngblood hit a kill.
The Lady Sandites began to stage a comeback with a four-point run and a pair of kills from Henry, cutting it to 18-12. DeGrace scored two of her own, then Sand Springs went on a ten point run. Henry scored a kill and a block, Youngblood scored a pair of kills, and Mong served three aces for the 22-20 lead. The Huskies wouldn’t have an upset on their hands, however, and surged back for the 25-23 win.
No. 10 Southmoore (4-6) took a commanding 8-3 lead in their first game against the Sandites and rolled steadily forward for a 25-16 victory. .
The second set was far more competitive with the Sandites in control for most of the action. Mong scored back to back aces for the lead at 5-3 and Sand Springs looked to be in good shape in the final stretch. But the Sabercats came from a 19-13 deficit to win it 25-22.
Westmoore took an 11-8 lead in the final game with a four point run and never looked back in another 25-16 win.
The Lady Sandites will return to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. with a home battle against Frontier Valley foe No. 8 Jenks (7-6, 2-1).