Region 9 volleyball: D-Hills finishes first half of region play undefeated

Written by Darren Cole
September 30, 2016
Snow Canyon's Ina Fakahua (26),Desert Hills vs. Snow Canyon, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Sept. 29, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – The top three teams swept their opponents Thursday night, solidifying their rankings through the first half of Region 9 volleyball play.

Desert Hills finished the first half without losing a single set. Pine View sits entrenched in second place with its earlier win over Dixie. The Lady Flyers have been battling injuries from top performers, but expect to be full strength at the beginning of the second half of region play. Snow Canyon, Cedar and Hurricane will all battle for the final playoff spot, barring any upsets over the top three teams. Below are match summaries of Thursday night’s performances:

DESERT HILLS 3, SNOW CANYON 0

The Lady Thunder stayed undefeated through the first half of region play with a sweep of Snow Canyon 25-3, 25-9, 25-14.

desert-hills-logosnow-canyon-logoThe Warrior offense was almost nonexistent, recording a negative percentage with only 10 successful attacks against 11 errors.

“We had very poor passing tonight,” said Snow Canyon head coach Ryan Rarick. “We will need to work on our serve-receive passing. We were also not mentally prepared tonight. We need to have that focus every night at all times.”

Desert Hills' Rachel Winters (7), Desert Hills vs. Snow Canyon, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Sept. 29, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Desert Hills’ Rachel Winters (7), Desert Hills vs. Snow Canyon, Volleyball, St. George, Utah, Sept. 29, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“Our team played with better unity tonight,” said Desert Hills head coach Jill Swaney. “Our serving and passing game is improving. Hopefully that will continue as we go into the second half of region play.”

The Lady Thunder were led by Charity Bradley with 19 kills and seven service aces. Katelyn Taylor led the team with 11 digs. Hailee Harmer had 37 assists.

Desert Hills is 5-0 through the first half of region play with an overall record of 17-7. The teams that played tonight will play again on Tuesday but at the visiting team’s gym. Snow Canyon falls to 2-3 in Region 9 and 4-11 overall. Desert Hills will travel to Snow Canyon Tuesday night.

DIXIE 3, HURRICANE 0

Dixie played kept Region 9 first-teamer Tyler Stilson out of the lineup after the first part of set one, but still completed the sweep against Hurricane 25-19, 25-17, 25-16.

dixie-logohurricane-logo“Shawnee Jones has been playing outside really well,” said Dixie head coach Stacy Leavitt. “She had been playing middle and we thought this would be a good opportunity to get her several reps on the outside. Overall we served very well and Brooklyn Wright once again did a great job distributing the sets.”

The Lady Tigers played consistently, but lacked the finishing touch.

“I have seen improvement in our play,” said Hurricane head coach Content Marshall. “Down the stretch, we need to come up with big plays to get the win.”

For Dixie, Wright had a game-high 29 assists. Risha Tiatia and Aspen Bair led Dixie with eight and seven kills, respectively. Kelsey Terry recorded five service aces. For the Lady Tigers, Hollie Isom had 12 digs and four service aces. Hailey Homer had 11 assists and 4 kills.

Dixie moves into sole possession of third place with a region record of 3-2 and an overall record of 9-5. Hurricane falls to 0-5 in region play and 2-11 overall. Hurricane will travel to Dixie on Tuesday night.

PINE VIEW 3, CEDAR 0

Pine View had to go to overtime to finish in the first set before finishing off the Lady Reds, 27-25, 25-14, 25-18.

pine-view-logocedar-logo“We started a little flat ,” said Panther head coach Kelly Murdock. “We then settled and got into a rhythm in the final two sets.”

“We got phenomenal play from Kylie Field tonight,” said Cedar head coach Nicole Anglin. “She set consistently and played aggressively at the net. Shaun Bauman played strong defense and great serve-receive. We could not adjust defensively in the second set. We made some in the third but were already playing from behind before we could turn things around.”

For the Lady Panthers, Cydnee McGuire led the team with 14 kills. Kiara Rivas led with seven digs. Cassidy Murdock dished out 34 assists. Kayleigh Swenson led the team with five service aces.

Pine View moves to 4-1 and 16-8 overall. Cedar falls to 1-4 in region and 8-7 overall. Pine View will travel to Cedar on Tuesday night.

Region 9 Volleyball Standings
1. Desert Hills 5-0 (17-7)
2. Pine View 4-1 (16-8)
3. Dixie 3-2 (9-5)
4. Snow Canyon 2-3 (4-11)
5. Cedar (1-4) (8-7)
6. Hurricane (0-5) (2-11)

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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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