Region 9 volleyball: Warriors clinch region title with win over D-Hills

Written by Darren Cole
October 14, 2015
Nikenna Durante (9) hits for Snow Canyon, Desert Hills vs. Snow Canyon, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Oct. 13, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – The stakes were high Tuesday night at the Thunderdome and Snow Canyon rose to the occasion.

snow-canyon-logoDesert-Hills-smIt was the battle for the title in Region 9 volleyball at Desert Hills. The Thunder were looking for a share of the region title while the Snow Canyon Warriors were looking to own it outright. The Warriors walked away with the 3-1 win and a lock on the Region 9 title.

“We knew what the stakes were coming in,” said Warrior head coach Alaina Parker. “Desert Hills came out focused and on fire. We made some key mistakes early in our service placement and covering our hitters. They took advantage of that.”

Alexsa "Crash" Parker hits for Snow Canyon, Desert Hills vs. Snow Canyon, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Oct. 13, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Alexsa “Crash” Parker hits for Snow Canyon, Desert Hills vs. Snow Canyon, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Oct. 13, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

A fired up D-Hills team took the first game of the best of five, but the rest of the night would belong to Snow Canyon.

The first set looked like the Thunder would walk away with a share of the lead in the region. After taking as much as a nine-point lead early in the match, DH fought off a Warrior challenge at the end to pull off the win 25-22. The Thunder took advantage of some key Warrior errors, but also had good service from outside hitters Rachel Winters and Jessica Harris. It was the first set that the Warriors had lost in region play.

The Warriors came out more focused in the second set and jumped out to a big lead early. The Thunder could not make any dents in the lead. The Warriors got to game point at 24-16 and closed out the set 25-18 to even the match at one set apiece.

The third set stayed pretty even through its entirety. Neither team could muster more than a three-point lead. The Thunder took a late 21-19 lead to put Snow Canyon on their heels for the second time in three sets. Coach Parker called timeout.

“I told them to calm down, to relax,” said Parker. “Both teams had been playing well and it came down to who was playing better defense.”

Camryn Johnson hits for Snow Canyon, Desert Hills vs. Snow Canyon, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Oct. 13, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Camryn Johnson hits for Snow Canyon, Desert Hills vs. Snow Canyon, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Oct. 13, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

The Warriors closed out the set 6-1 to take the win 25-22 and a 2-1 advantage in the match. The fourth set was anticlimactic after the tense third set. Again the Warriors came out strong, going up 6-1 immediately off Nikenna Durante’s service. They never looked back after that and won convincingly 25-14.

For Snow Canyon, Crash Parker had 33 kills and 20 digs. Durante led the team with 31 digs. Shaylee Reed had 36 assists and 12 digs. Camryn Johnson had 14 assists and 12 digs.

For the Thunder, Winters had 12 kills and 13 digs. Kaylee Carter led the Thunder with 18 digs. Madison Clark and Hailee Tanner had 14 and 10 digs respectively. Tanner also contributed 23 assists.

Desert Hills falls to 9-3 overall, 6-2 in Region 9. The Thunder will travel to Cedar next Tuesday. Snow Canyon stays undefeated in region at 8-0, 12-2 overall. The Warriors will travel to Hurricane on Tuesday.

Pine View 3, Cedar 0

The Panthers swept Cedar 25-9, 25-17, 25-21. Individually Ashley Van Fleet had five kills and seven digs for Cedar. Ashlyn Odgen had seven kills and eight digs. Kylie Field led the team with eight assists. For Pine View, Sarrah Pierce led the team with 12 kills. Cydnee McGuire had nine kills and three service aces. Natasha Flame and Cierra Costa led the Panthers with 10 and 9 kdigs respectively. Cassidy Murdock had 36 assists.

Pine View improves to 5-3 in Region 9, and to 18-10 overall. The Panthers will host Dixie in a battle for third place in the region on Tuesday. Cedar falls to 1-8 in region and 8-11 overall. Cedar will face Canyon View in non-region action this Thursday before hosting Desert Hills on Tuesday.

Dixie 3, Hurricane 0

The Flyers beat Hurricane in straight sets 25-20, 25-15, 25-19. For Dixie, Tyler Stilson had nine kills. DeAubrey Bowers had five kills and five blocks. Katie Fisher had five kills. Brooklyn Wright led the Flyers with 20 assists. Dixie improves to 4-4 in region, 9-10 overall. The Flyers will travel to Pine View on Tuesday. The Tigers fall to 1-8 in Region 9, 2-12 overall. Hurricane will host Snow Canyon on Tuesday.

Region 9 Standings
1. Snow Canyon 8-0 (12-2 overall)
2. Desert Hills 6-2 (9-3)
3. Pine View 5-3 (18-10)
4. Dixie 4-4 (9-10)
5t. Hurricane 1-8 (2-12)
5t. Cedar 1-8 (8-11)

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darren Cole recently returned to sportswriting after a 20-plus year hiatus. While pursuing other studies, he developed an early passion for sports writing as a senior writer and sports editor for the Ricks College Scroll in 1988-89. Darren has spent the last 20 years writing legal memorandi and appellate briefs. In addition to his legal career, he has also taught legal and criminal justice courses at the university level for nine years as an adjunct professor. Darren is married to wife Lisa, has two sons and is a confessed sports junkie.

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