Region 9 volleyball: Thunder, Panthers go to 2-0 in league play

Written by Darren Cole
September 21, 2016
Dixie's Shawnee Jones (9), Dixie vs. Cedar, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Sept. 20, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – The second night of Region 9 matches separated the teams equally into undefeated, one-loss and two-loss teams Tuesday.

Desert Hills joined Hurricane in the “Battle for Kayla” in Hurricane. Dixie overcame a tough loss Thursday night with a win at home against Cedar. Despite being outscored 113-101, Pine View won the close sets and ultimately the match at Snow Canyon. Below are summaries of Tuesday night’s matches:

Dixie 3, Cedar 0

The Lady Flyers swept visiting Cedar in straight sets, 26-24, 25-19, 25-19.

dixie-logocedar-logo“Cedar played us very well defensively,” said Dixie head coach Stacy Leavitt. “We made a few adjustments and played disciplined tonight. We have two good setters, Risha Tiatia and Brooklyn Wright. They have kept us composed on the floor. Risha is also good on the attack.”

Dixie has been playing without senior team captain and middle blocker DeAudry Bowers.

Cedar's Dream Weaver (3) and Dixie's Lauren Beatty (4), Dixie vs. Cedar, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Sept. 20, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Cedar’s Dream Weaver (3) and Dixie’s Lauren Beatty (4), Dixie vs. Cedar, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Sept. 20, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“We have missed her,” said Leavitt. “But others have stepped up and played well.”

The Lady Reds took the loss, but the improvement has shown from last season to this year.

“More experience, more reps,” said Cedar coach Nicole Anglin. “We are still fairly young. But we are playing our receive and passing better.”

Individually for Dixie, Tyler Stilson and Tiatia led the team with 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Kelsey Terry had eight service aces.

Dixie moves to 7-4 overall and 1-1 in region play. The Flyers will travel to Pine View on Thursday. Cedar drops to 7-5 and 0-2 in Region 9. The Lady Reds will travel to Desert Hills on Thursday.

Desert Hills 3, Hurricane 0

Desert Hills traveled to Hurricane and swept the Lady Tigers 25-15, 25-13, 25-14, on an emotional night at HHS.

desert-hills-logohurricane-logoHurricane’s rookie head coach, Content Marshall, discovered shortly before the season began that her youngest daughter, Kayla, had cancer. Tonight both teams wore t-shirts in her honor.

“Tonight we played for Kayla,” said Desert Hills head coach Jill Swaney. “I can’t think of a better reason to remind us that volleyball is just a game. It really makes you want to nurture the relationships you have at home. It puts everything in perspective. We were honored to play tonight for Kayla and to battle cancer.”

Battle for Kayla at Hurricane High Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016
Battle for Kayla at Hurricane High Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016

At the end of the match both teams came together for a photo.

“We moved well tonight defensively,” said Marshall. “We were not able to capitalize on Desert Hills’ mistakes. We also need to cut down on our service and attack errors.”

Individually for Desert Hills, Charity Bradley led the team with nine kills. Hailiee Harmer led with 16 assists and Kaylee Carter had 15 digs. For Hurricane, Hollie Isom had 12 digs. Alexa Christensen had three blocks.

Desert Hills moves to 14-7 overall and 2-0 in Region 9. DH will host Cedar on Thursday. Hurricane falls to 0-2 in region play and to 2-8 overall. The Tigers will play at Snow Canyon on Thursday.

Pine View 3, Snow Canyon 2

In the most hotly-contested match of the night in Region 9, the Lady Panthers eked out a close win over Snow Canyon, 14-25, 30-28, 17-25, 25-23, 15-12.

It is Pine View’s first victory over Snow Canyon since Oct. 12, 2004, a nearly 12-year span that lasted 23 matches.

pine-view-logosnow-canyon-logo“Our bench came in and did a great job,” said Pine View head coach Kelly Murdock. “Our outside hitters got better as the match progressed. Cydnee McGuire and Aubrey Hendrickson both had key kills and our middles kept them from getting the hard balls down on us. It took a team effort playing with nerves and still coming out on top.”

First-year Snow Canyhon head coach Ryan Rarick said his team had some great moments, even in the loss.

“We struggled to sustain our momentum tonight,” he said. “We played really well for extended stretches, but very poorly for other stretches. We’re still working on staying mentally tough throughout the whole match. Our bright spot was our serving. We had 26 aces against only nine errors. Camryn Johnson had nine aces. However, our serve-receive passing was weak and hindered our ability to attack the ball consistently.”

McGuire led Pine View with 19 kills. Cassidy Murdock led the Lady Panthers with 38 assists. Individually for Snow Canyon, Sammi Johnston led the team with 20 kills. Johnston and Ally Dunston led the team with 13 and 12 digs, respectively. Johnson also led the team with 32 assists.

Pine View moves to 14-7 overall and 2-0 in Region 9. PV will host Dixie on Thursday. Snow Canyon falls to 3-9 and 1-1 and will host Hurricane on Thursday.

Region 9 Volleyball Standings
1t. Desert Hills 2-0 (14-7)
1t. Pine View 2-0 (14-7)
3t. Dixie 1-1 (7-4)
3t. Snow Canyon 1-1 (3-9)
5t. Cedar 0-2 (7-5)
5t. Hurricane 0-2 (2-8)

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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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