Snow Canyon’s path to VB championship waylaid by powerful Morgan

Written by Darren Cole
October 29, 2015
Coach Alaina Parker poses with her team after her last match, 3A State Volleyball Tournament, Orem, Utah, Oct. 29, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

OREM – The Morgan Trojans and Snow Canyon Warriors both plowed through the Utah State 3A Volleyball Tournament in straight sets. Something had to give in the final game. Unfortunately for Warrior fans, it was Snow Canyon.

vblogoMorgan, which had dropped only three sets all season, entered the final match with a 31-0 record and a clear-cut motive to avenge its loss to the Warriors in last year’s championship game. They didn’t let the opportunity slip away, sweeping past Snow Canyon in straight sets to earn the 2015 3A State Championship.

The first game proved to be foretelling as the Trojans scored the first four points and then continued the climb by outscoring Snow Canyon at a 2-1 pace en route to a 25-11 blowout. In between games, Warrior head coach Alaina Parker made few adjustments.

Snow Canyon's Sammi Johnston (11), 3A State Volleyball Tournament, Orem, Utah, Oct. 29, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Snow Canyon’s Sammi Johnston (11), 3A State Volleyball Tournament, Orem, Utah, Oct. 29, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“She tried to settle our nerves,” said SC setter Shaylee Reed. “We had some unforced errors in the first set. We wanted to eliminate those, but we stayed with our game.”

In the second set, the Warriors kept pace but did not lead after an early 4-3 advantage. Morgan maintained a 2-4 point lead through the remainder of the set.

In the final set, Morgan again controlled the pace and again methodically build the lead at a 2-1 margin. When the lead was 20-10, the Warriors kept pace, but still lost 25-15.

“I think our girls played well,” said an emotional Alaina Parker. “We ran into a team that was much deeper than ours. I think great teams can cause you to make uncharacteristic unforced errors. We were able to clean a lot of that up, but we ran into a great attack team.”

Snow Canyon's Ally Dunston (10), 3A State Volleyball Tournament, Orem, Utah, Oct. 29, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Snow Canyon’s Ally Dunston (10), 3A State Volleyball Tournament, Orem, Utah, Oct. 29, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Individually for Snow Canyon, Crash Parker had 10 kills and six digs. Shaylee Reed led the team with nine assists. Snow Canyon ended the year with a record of 28-4.

Overall, the four teams from Region 9 placed in the top six spots. Desert Hills, after losing earlier in the day to Morgan, beat the Tooele Buffaloes for third place in the consolation game. In the game for fifth, Pine View outlasted Dixie for their third five-set match of the season.

Here is a rundown of the day’s previous games for Region 9 teams:

Consolation game (3rd place)
Desert Hills 3, Tooele 2
Tooele ultimately lost, but showed all of the doubters that they belonged in the final four. It took all the gas the Thunder had to pull it out 20-25, 25-17, 25-16, 18-25, 15-13. Individually, Tiera Orr had 21 kills and 31 digs. Kaylee Carter had 11 kills and 12 digs. Katelyn Carter had 25 digs. Jennifer and Jessica Harris had five blocks apiece. Desert Hills ended their season with an overall record of 14-4.

“It was a tough match,” said Desert Hills head coach Jill Swaney. “This whole tournament Hailee Tanner, Tierra Orr and Rachel Winters stepped up. Our seniors have done a good job keeping our team prepared.”

5th place game
Pine View 3, Dixie 2

Pine View celebrates their 5 set epic victory over Dixie to win 5th place, 3A State Volleyball Tournament, Orem, Utah, Oct. 29, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Pine View celebrates their 5 set epic victory over Dixie to win 5th place, 3A State Volleyball Tournament, Orem, Utah, Oct. 29, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Both teams finished 5-5 in Region 9. Both teams had won a five-set match on their opponent’s home court. The rubber match was for fifth place in the state tournament. Honors went to Pine View, which once again won by two in the final game of five sets, 25-18, 22-25, 24-26, 25-12, 15-13.

Individually for Dixie Katie Fisher and DeAubrey Bowers had 13 and 10 kills respectively. Hannah Nyberg had 15 digs. Brooklyn Wright had 35 assists.

“We wanted to neutralize their blocking,” said Dixie head coach Stacy Leavitt. “Brooklyn Wright did a great job passing away from their blockers. Katie Fisher and DeAubrey Bowers played great. We had good senior leadership for this tournament.”

The match was about as even as a match could get, again.

“We were so evenly matched this year,” said Panther middle blocker Megan Hintze. “If we played again right now it would go five sets again and maybe Dixie on top by two.”

Pine View, a team that entered the tournament as a four-seed, won three out of four matches.

“We wanted to continue in the Championship bracket,” said Panther head coach Kelly Murdock. “But it was nice to end our season with a win.”

Dixie went 2-2 in the tournament and ended with an overall record of 12-13. Pine View ends their season with an overall record of 21-13.

Semifinals
Morgan 3, Desert Hills 0

Desert Hills' Jessica Harris (13), 3A State Volleyball Tournament, Orem, Utah, Oct. 29, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Desert Hills’ Jessica Harris (13), 3A State Volleyball Tournament, Orem, Utah, Oct. 29, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

The Trojans started the day pummeling Desert Hills, 25-18, 25-9, 25-15. For the Thunder, Rachel Winters led with eight kills. Tiera Orr had six kills and 11 digs. Katelyn Taylor led the team with 13 digs. Hailee Tanner led the team with 15 assists.

Snow Canyon 3, Tooele 0
The Warriors humbled upstart Tooele in straight sets, 25-14, 25-13, 25-18. Individually, Crash Parker had 19 kills and nine digs. Shaylee Reed and Camryn Johnson led the team with 15 assists apiece.

Consolation
Pine View 3, Stansbury 0
Pine View began the day with a sweep of Region 10’s Stansbury to advance to the fifth-place game against Region 9 foe Dixie.

Dixie 3, Union 2
Dixie once again proved its mettle with a victory over a higher-ranked team. Union came in as the champion of Region 10 and a No. 1 seed. Dixie took the match in five games, 17-25, 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 15-11. Individually Katie Fisher led the team with 17 kills. Brooklyn Wright had 29 assists. Libero Hannah Nyberg had a 2.4 passing efficiency.

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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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