Region 9 volleyball: League play opens with 3 straight-set, hard-fought wins

Written by Darren Cole
September 16, 2016
Dixie's Tyler Stilson (5) and Desert Hills' Hailee Harmer (2), Desert Hills vs. Dixie, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Sept. 15, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – The first night of Region 9 play featured a battle of the top two preseason teams with Dixie traveling to Desert Hills. Despite close set scores in the first two sets, the Lady Thunder still pulled out the victory in straight sets. Pine View and Snow Canyon also dispatched their opponents in straight sets.

Desert Hills 3, Dixie 0

Desert Hills outlasted Dixie 25-22 in the first set and then made a tremendous comeback in the second set, overcoming 10 straight set points by Dixie. The Lady Flyers led 24-14, but Desert Hills came back and took the set 27-25. The loss seemed to deflate Dixie as the Lady Thunder won the third set in anticlimactic fashion 25-12.

desert-hills-logodixie-logo“Being down like that in the second set was a test of our team character,” said Desert Hills head coach Jill Swaney. “I was pleased with our composure and the way we fought back. It took a great team effort to beat a very good Dixie team.”

Desert Hills vs. Dixie, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Sept. 15, 2016, | Photo by Megan Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Desert Hills vs. Dixie, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Sept. 15, 2016, | Photo by Megan Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Desert Hills got great service from Saselah Goulding to keep the Thunder in contention. Goulding had four aces and only three service errors in 24 total serves for the match.

“We had some great moments tonight,” said Dixie head coach Stacy Leavitt. “We need to play with more consistency.”

Charity Bradley led the Lady Thunder with 19 kills. Hailee Harmer had 28 assists. Rachel Winters led the team with 14 digs. Individually for Dixie, Tyler Stilson led the team with 13 kills. Brooklyn Wright led the team with three service aces.

Desert Hills moves to 8-2 overall and 1-0 in Region 9. The Thunder will travel to Hurricane on Tuesday. Dixie falls to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in region play. The Flyers will host Cedar on Tuesday night.

Pine View 3, Hurricane 0

The Lady Panthers cruised to victory in the second set, but the first and third sets were battles from beginning to end.

“Consistency has been our strength this season,” said Pine View head coach Kelly Murdock. “Tonight we made some mental mistakes and it cost us.”

pine-view-logohurricane-logoDespite the miscues, Pine View still won in straight sets, 25-21, 25-10, 25-23. In the second set, the Lady Panthers cut down on service errors and had separate runs during the service of Cydnee McGuire and Cassidy Murdock.

In the third set, neither team would take more than a three-point lead and Hurricane led the set 21-20 before Pine View closed it out 5-2. The final point came on a ferocious kill by McGuire.

“That kill was more of a statement to me,” said Coach Murdock. “I had just gotten on her for not keeping her shots inbounds.”

“That second set was rough for us,” said Hurricane head coach Content Marshall. “I was proud of our response. Most teams would have folded. The girls came back and played better in the third set. We are getting better with each match and despite the loss, our girls stayed positive and have a great attitude.”

Individually for Pine View, McGuire led with 12 kills and nine service aces. Emily Lantor had eight kills. Murdock led the team with 31 assists. Libero Kiara Rivas had 18 digs. For Hurricane, the stats were spread evenly. Hollie Isom had two service aces and five digs. Hailey Homer had eight assists.

Pine View moves to 13-7 overall and 1-0 in Region 9. The Lady Panthers will travel to Snow Canyon on Tuesday night. Hurricane falls to 2-7 and 0-1 in the region. The Lady TIgers will host Desert Hills on Tuesday night.

Snow Canyon 3, Cedar 0

The Lady Warriors were the only region team to get a win on the road Thursday, beating Cedar in straight sets 25-19, 25-20, 25-19.

snow-canyon-logocedar-logo“We were not sure how our girls were going to play tonight,” said Snow Canyon head coach Ryan Rarick. “We had several that were battling sickness. Sammi (Johnston) and Ally (Dunston) were excellent on the outside. Camryn Johnson did a great job setting. Ina Fakahua kept us in it all night with her serving.”

“We played great defense until the third set,” said Cedar head coach Nicole Anglin. “Katelyn Armstrong stood out hitting consistently in the middle and getting high blocking numbers. Kylee Field exhibited great decision making and Japrix Weaver gave us some high energy tonight.”

Johnston and Dunston led Snow Canyon with 13 and 11 kills. They also led the team with 10 and eight digs, respectively. Johnson led the team with 32 assists. Individually for Cedar, Field led the team with 18 assists. Shaun Bauman and Dream Weaver had 13 and 11 digs. Armstrong and Kyley Beatty led with seven and six kills, respectively.

The Lady Warriors move to 3-6 overall and 1-0 in region. They will host Pine View on Tuesday night. Cedar drops to 7-4 overall and 0-1 in Region 9. They will travel to Dixie on Tuesday night.

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, 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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