4A volleyball playoffs recap: Desert Hills, Snow Canyon, Dixie advance to quarterfinals

Written by Rich Allen
October 25, 2020
Cedar at Desert Hills, 4A state volleyball playoffs, St. George, Utah, Oct. 24, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News / Cedar City News

ST. GEORGE — Three Region 9 teams made it past the first round of the 4A state volleyball playoffs Saturday, with Desert Hills and Snow Canyon both sweeping at home and Dixie edging Juan Diego on the road. Here’s a look at Saturday’s first-round action:

Desert Hills 3, Cedar 0

The Desert Hills Thunder rolled on to the 4A volleyball quarterfinals with a three-set sweep over the Cedar Reds on Saturday afternoon.

The No. 3 seeded Thunder kept Cedar from scoring more than three points in a row for the entirety of the match. The sound defense of their home court combined with a balanced offensive attack launched them to the school’s second-straight quarterfinal trip and third in four years since being promoted from 3A.

“I feel like our tone is really set on defense,” Desert Hills head coach Craig Allred said. “When we get our hustle in, we just make some of those crazy plays.”

Cedar at Desert Hills, 4A state volleyball playoffs, St. George, Utah, Oct. 24, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News / Cedar City News

The strong defense turned into scoring opportunities early on. In the first set, the two teams went back and forth to a 10-9 Cedar lead before back-to-back extended volleys were capped with strong spikes by senior outside hitter Sofia Perez.

Then, when it was Perez’s turn to serve one possession later, Desert Hills turned the momentum into a seven-point rally and a 19-11 lead en route to a 25-16 win. 

“It was kind of back and forth and then we pulled it together and showed them how we play,” Perez said. “Whenever the team goes on a run, it’s important for momentum.”

Perez’s scoring streak springboarded the Thunder to a quick 25-15 victory in the second set. Cedar, with its back against the wall, pushed the third set to a 14-13 lead in their favor before running out of gas and yielding 12 of the next 15 points. 

Cedar, which ends its season with a 14-15 record, did a 3-0 sweep of its own earlier Saturday afternoon over Stansbury High School, also at Desert Hills.

Snow Canyon 3, Ogden 0

At Snow Canyon, the No. 6 seed Warriors eliminated 11th-seeded Ogden from the playoffs with a three-set sweep of the Tigers, 25-11, 25-15, 25-16.

Dixie 3, Juan Diego 2

At Juan Diego Catholic High School in Draper, the 9th-seeded Dixie Flyers staged a dramatic comeback to defeat Juan Diego in five sets. Dixie lost the first two games 20-25 and 23-25, but came back to win the next three, 25-15, 25-23 and 15-13.

The Flyers will next play region rival Snow Canyon, with whom they split the regular-season series, in the state quarterfinals on Tuesday in Richfield (see schedule below).

Crimson Cliffs at Ridgeline, 4A state volleyball playoffs, Millville, Utah, Oct. 24, 2020 | Photo courtesy of Sean Greene, Cache Valley Daily / St. George News

Ridgeline 3, Crimson Cliffs 0

At Ridgeline, the 7th-seeded Riverhawks defeated 10th-seeded Crimson Cliffs, 25-21, 25-15, 25-17. The Mustangs finished their season with a 14-12 overall record.

Sky View 3, Pine View 0

At Sky View, the top-seeded Bobcats swept the Pine View Panthers, 25-19, 25-17, 27-25. Pine View, the tournament’s 16th seed, had earned the trip to Smithfield by beating 17th-seeded Hurricane at Pine View on Friday, 25-20, 25-16, 25-20.

Green Canyon 3, Canyon View 0

At Tooele High, the 13th-seeded Green Canyon Wolves swept the Canyon View Falcons, 25-18, 25-15, 25-10. Green Canyon then went on to advance to the quarterfinals by defeating pod host Tooele, the No. 4 seed, in five games.

4A state tournament in Richfield

The 4A tournament concludes this week at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield, with the quarterfinals being staged on Tuesday, followed by the semifinals and finals on Wednesday. Tuesday’s quarterfinals schedule is as follows:

  • 3 Desert Hills vs. 6 Snow Canyon, 11 a.m.
  • 2 Uintah vs. 7 Ridgeline, 1 p.m.
  • 13 Green Canyon vs. 5 Mountain Crest, 3 p.m.
  • 1 Sky View vs. 9 Dixie, 5 p.m.

To see full bracket, click here.

St. George News reporter Jeff Richards contributed to this story.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rich joined St. George News in October 2020. The Colorado native graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver in December 2018, where he was a sports and managing editor at the student publication, The Metropolitan. He worked as a media relations assistant for the minor league baseball club New Orleans Baby Cakes in 2019.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @RAllenSTGNews@STGnews

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