Prep Sports: Journey to the Top

Morgan is breezing through its first round match-up against Juab. They won 25-7 in the first game.

And in the other 3A match, Bear River has been a surprise. The Bears have hung on with Richfield and just won the second game 26-24. The teams are tied with one match a piece. We'll see if Bear River can sustain that momentum.

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The strength of Region 14 is showing as three of the 2A semifinals teams are from that region — Layton Christian, Waterford and South Summit. The Ravens have lost to LCA twice already but Waterford could surprise some people and end the Eagles' 21-match winning streak.

"We've had some tough games this year," South Summit coach Becky Dees said. "Waterford is one of those teams if you're not paying attention, they can destroy you."

The Wildcats are that kind of team, too. They showed just how scrappy and gritty they are after pushing Enterprise to a fifth game and then storming back from a seven-point deficit in the fifth game to take the match last night to advance to the semfinals. South Summit will take on 2A favorite Grand any moment now.

The LCA/Waterford game will be a little delayed because they play will play once the Morgan/Juab game is over. But the way it's going so far, it doesn't look like it will take too long.

--Maggie Thach

Today is by far, the most hectic day of the entire volleyball season. That's because three classifications will all be playing at Utah Valley University. The first two rounds of the Class 1A and 3A tournament will be played today and the semifinals and 2A championship, as well as consolation matches will also be going on.

Here are some quick tidbits that went on in the morning round:

Picking up from yesterday, four 2A consolation matches were played.

Beaver def. San Juan 25-16, 22-25, 20-25, 25-21, 15-11

North Summit def. Enterprise 25-21, 25-21, 25-22

South Sevier def. Kanab 25-18, 25-12, 25-12

North Sevier def. Parowan 25-19, 25-17, 25-22

I really didn't think San Juan and Enterprise would be eliminated this early. Sometimes it's as if the lingering questions bother the teams into the consolation matches. San Juan and Enterprise were so close to advancing to the semifinals. Maybe the 'what-ifs' got to them and they weren't able to play to their maximum ability.

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Class 1A

Altamont def. ICS 25-22, 25-9, 25-18

Bryce Valley def. Dugway 25-18, 25-22, 25-18

Monticello def. Duchesne 25-12, 19-25, 25-13, 25-17

Piute def. St. Joseph 25-14, 25-6, 25-12

Panguitch def. Manila 25-7, 25-5, 25-14

Whitehorse def. 25-19, 25-18, 25-16

We're still waiting for the results of Christian Heritage/Monument Valley and Rich/Wayne

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Class 3A

North Sanpete def. Judge 24-26, 25-23, 26-24, 25-27, 15-6

Hurricane def. Park City 25-17, 25-15, 25-20

Grantsville def. Carbon 22-25, 19-25, 27-25, 25-22, 17-15

Delta def. Juan Diego 25-17, 19-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-10

Wasatch def. Canyon View 19-25, 25-9, 25-14, 25-19

Because three of those matches went to five games, the 3A tournament is a little behind. Bear River/Richfield and Morgan/Juab are being played right now. I'm still waiting on the results from Desert Hills/ALA.

It will be exciting to watch Morgan and Richfield simultaneously. These two teams are the early-tournament favorites.

--Maggie Thach

The quarterfinals have started between Layton Christian/San Juan (game story will be in the paper tomorrow) and Grand/North Summit but before we can get to that, we'll go over how the rest of the first round went.

The second part of the first round was much more competitive. In the first four matches, the winners all won in three. In the 4:30 p.m. matches, two went to five games. Enterprise breezed into the quarterfinals with a 25-7, 25-16, 25-16 win over Gunnison. And South Summit swept North Sevier 25-21, 25-15, 25-18. North Sevier was a tough opponent but everything was clicking for South Summit. As a team, the Wildcats had 27 digs, 27 kills and five blocks.

"When they play like they did against North Sevier, they can do anything," said South Summit coach Becky Dees. "We've had our ups and downs this season but we have started to beat the big teams and that will help us a lot."

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After two games, it looked like Waterford was headed to the losers' bracket but the Ravens rallied and beat South Sevier — who was in the Class 2A championship match last season — 22-25, 21-25, 25-11, 25-17, 15-12.

The Ravens struggled in the first two games but looked like a different team in the the third.

"I don't know where that third game came from," Waterford coach Steve Manning said. "We're a young team but I know these girls are capable."

The plan was to keep the ball out of Kayla King's hands. King is the go-to player for South Sevier and is the only player on the court for South Sevier who played in last year's championship match. The Ravens noticed when she got the first touch, she usually got the third touch, too. To take away that momentum, they served away from King. The plan worked and the Ravens were able to edge out the Rams in the fifth game.

Carol Chase Peterson had 11 kills and Laura Lee Judd had 10 for Waterford.

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The match between Rowland Hall and Beaver was just as intense. Beaver had the lead after two games but relaxed and Rowland Hall was able to win the next two to push a fifth game.

"We've had problems this year keeping moment throughout the match," Beaver coach Jim Beard said. "But when we get momentum, we're hard to stop."

Beaver took the 25-20, 25-16, 22-25, 13-25, 15-9 win over Rowland Hall with a strong fifth game performance. The Beavers prepared for Rowland Hall's 6-foot-3 (at least) middle Namoongo Kwendakwema by putting two blockers on her and pulling one back to pick up any tip balls. The Beavers were up 11-3 at one point in the fifth game and was able to pull it out.

Originally, Beard that the match would be won with his outside hitters but it turns out Beavers' middles made a bigger impact.

--Maggie Thach

So the first half of the first round of the Class 2A tournament has been played and four teams are onto the quarterfinals.

San Juan defeated Kanab 25-13, 25-19, 25-23. It wasn't the Broncos' best performance but they did get their first-day nerves out of the way. As it has been all season, San Juan's offense was balanced. Nobody dominated in any of the offensive statistics and that's how San Juan coach Cassy Moon likes it. Kelsi Meyer had eight kills and six blocks. Alyssa Simpson had seven kills and Brooke Bowring had five kills. Simone Shumway had 26 assists.

The Broncos will need that kind of balance when they take on a very tough Layton Christian team in the quarterfinals at 6:15 p.m. The Eagles are the No. 1 team from Region 14 and for good reason. Things were a little shaky in their first game against Millard but Layton Christian cruised in the next two games, winning 25-20, 25-7, 25-10.

"We don't know much about them and we don't know what to expect," Moon said. "But they're not No. 1 for no reason. They're winning games. I just hope our passing is better."

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North Summit held of Parowan 25-11, 25-13, 25-18 in the first round and will fave 2A favorite Grand in the next round at 6:15 p.m. The Braves were led by Mckenzee Murdock, who had nine kills and Hayley Richins, had had 10.

The Braves are no strangers to Grand. They played against each other in the Richfield tournament earlier this season. In their match, they split games and had a lead in the third but nerves got the best of them and Grand took the match.

"They're beatable, we just gotta be aggressive," North Summit coach Sam Stephens said. "You're not going to shut Shelby [Dalton] down but we gotta execute when she's in the back row."

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It doesn't take too much to get Grand excited. Don't get me wrong, they are very focused but not your typical rah-rah team. The Red Devils dismanted first-year program Maeser Prep in the first round, not letting their opponent score in double digits. The final score? 25-7, 25-2, 25-8.

Even with that kind of dominating peformance, they didn't celebrate afterwards. It was just business as usual for Grand. Shelby Dalton, the team's best all-around net player and a Class 2A MVP candidate, and Miranda Gill combined for 18 kills. Dalton, Lillian Mckinlay-Jones and Sara Hirschfeld combined for 17 aces.

"We were really strong," Grand coach Deb Hren said. "My team is unexciteable. At the last practice before coming here, it was business as usual."

--Maggie Thach

I'm here at UVU and things are hectic as usual when it comes to the state tournament. Four matches are being played at once. Cheerleaders are yelling, volleyball players are talking on the court and the different crowds watching the matches erupt in cheering every 20 seconds or so. It's almost sensory overload trying to watch everything.

There's so much that goes on at the tournament and not nearly enough gets in the paper the next morning. So I will blog about the first round of the tournament and you can read about the second round in the Trib tomorrow.

-- Maggie Thach