Region 9 volleyball: Thunder survive 5-set tangle vs. Warriors

Snow Canyon's Savannah North (14), Snow Canyon vs. Desert Hills, Volleyball, St. George, UT, Sept. 14, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Snow Canyon was looking to rebound from its first region loss, but came up against a determined Desert Hills team Thursday night. Dixie vanquished Cedar on the road and Pine View did rebound from its last game to sweep Canyon View at home. Below are match summaries of Thursday night’s action:

Desert Hills 3, Snow Canyon 2

Desert Hills moved into second place in region by beating the Lady Warriors in five, 22-25, 25-20, 22-25, 26-24, 15-10.

Down 2-1 and facing three match points at 24-21, the Lady Thunder looked like they were headed for their second region loss. Most teams would play it safe and hope the other team would make the error, but Desert Hills called a timeout and came out with a vengeance. After a service error gave them a side out, Allie Beck got a block and two kills to pull the teams even. Saselah Goulding then recorded a service ace. The set ended with a Warrior error. That sequence evened up the sets and gave Desert Hills the momentum going into the fifth set.

Desert Hills’ Allie Beck (3), Snow Canyon vs. Desert Hills, Volleyball, St. George, UT, Sept. 14, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“I told them in the timeout that whatever they do from this point, they own it,” Desert Hills head coach Sharon Christensen said. “From that point on and through the fifth set, we had very few errors.”

Beck said her team wanted to stay aggressive.

“We did not want to play complacent,” she said. “We knew that coach had confidence in us. We wanted to keep bringing it. I got some great sets and we were able to tie it up. We came out in the fifth with a lot more confidence.”

In the fifth, the score stayed relatively close through the first few points. But Desert Hills turned a 3-3 tie into a five-point lead. Again, Beck delivered two kills during the stretch. The Lady Warriors pulled to within two on a kill from Sophie Robinson to pull to 10-8 and again at 11-9. But the Thunder finished on a 4-1 run to close out the match.

“This has been a week of tough losses,” Snow Canyon head coach Ryan Rarick said. “I am proud how the girls came out of the gate tonight. It would have been easy to fall apart after our earlier loss. But we came to play tonight. Unfortunately, we still had problems closing out sets and performing in crunch time. We have trouble making plays down the stretch. I am confident we can correct those issues.”

Desert Hills’ Presley Harris (24), Snow Canyon vs. Desert Hills, Volleyball, St. George, UT, Sept. 14, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

In the first set, it initially looked like the Warriors were in for a short night as Desert Hills jumped on them early and big, taking a 16-7 lead. Hallie Sonju had three aces in her first service and the Thunder were on a roll.

But Snow Canyon fought back. The Warriors pulled to within four, 17-13, and kept within striking distance. Still trailing 22-18, the Lady Warriors made their move and scored the final seven points to close out the set. Sammi Johnston got two service aces during the run and Savannah North had two blocks. The set ended on a kill by Lizzy Rowland.

“We came out really loose and played great,” Christensen said. “But when they made their comeback, we tightened up and it showed in our play.”

In the second set, it was again the Thunder who took the slim, early lead. Madi Clark’s kill put Desert Hills up 9-5 before Rarick called a timeout. The Warriors responded with a brief comeback, pulling to within one on consecutive kills by Robinson and Hallie Remund. But it would prove to be short-lived as DHHS would respond with an 8-3 run to take a 17-11 lead. Snow Canyon would get within two, 20-18, on Shayla Harris’ service ace, but the Thunder closed the set on a 5-2 run. Beck’s kill gave the Thunder set point.

Snow Canyon vs. Desert Hills, Volleyball, St. George, UT, Sept. 14, 2017, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Snow Canyon took command early in set three. The Lady Warriors led 9-5. Desert Hills came back to tie the score at 10-10. Snow Canyon then grabbed a two-point lead and held it until the Thunder tied the game again at 18-all. Desert Hills then took its first lead of the match and went up 22-20. After an SCHS timeout, the Warriors closed out the set on a 5-1 run with Rowland and Johnston getting kills.

Set four proved to be close throughout. Neither team led by more than three points and it was tied at 20-20. Remund recorded two service aces to give Snow Canyon a 23-20 lead. The teams traded side outs before Desert Hills called the timeout and Beck began her late-set heroics.

Individually for Desert Hills, Beck and Clark led the team with 16 and 14 kills, respectively. Goulding and Andie Sonju had 25 and 19 assists, respectively. Recording double-digit digs were Halle Sonju (22), Beck (19), Goulding (18), Andie Sonju (16) and Clark (11). Andie Sonju and Halle Sonju led the team with six and five service aces.

“We got excellent production from our middles,” Rarick said. “Remund and North accumulated 13 kills with only two errors.”

For the Warriors, Johnston led the team with 13 kills. Remund and Rowland had nine apiece. Johnston and Remund each had four service aces. Addie Tauanuu led the team with 29 assists. Recording double-digit digs were Johnston (19), Jael Wilde (18) and Shayla Harris (11)

Desert Hills improves to 3-1 in region and 7-5 overall. The Lady Thunder will play in the Durango Tournament this weekend in Las Vegas before hosting Canyon View on Tuesday. Snow Canyon falls to 3-2 in region play and 7-8 overall. The Lady Warriors will travel to Dixie on Tuesday.

Pine View 3, Canyon View 0

The Lady Panthers rebounded from their loss to Desert Hills earlier this week to sweep Canyon View 25-17, 25-21, 25-20.

For Pine View, Amelia Goebel led the team with eight kills and five blocks. Emily Lantor had 10 digs. Addyson Mikkelson and Celeste Fiame had eight digs apiece. Fiame also led the team with 26 assists.

“We had great serving and passing tonight,” Pine View head coach Kelly Murdock said.

For the Lady Falcons, Malia Vasi led the team with 14 assists and 14 digs. Lorien Colbert led the team with five kills.

“As a team, we need to work on maintaining focus the entire match,” Canyon View head coach Monica Jensen said. “We lost focus at times tonight and Pine View is too good of a team not to take advantage of that.”

Pine View moves to 2-3 in region and 16-8 overall. The Lady Panthers will next play next Thursday when they travel to Cedar. Canyon View falls to 2-2 in region and 8-7 overall. The Lady Falcons will host Desert Hills on Tuesday.

Dixie 3, Cedar 0

The Lady Flyers traveled north to face Cedar and came away with a sweep 25-7, 25-9, 29-27.

“Our girls played very well together tonight,” Dixie head coach Stacy Leavitt said. “Our passes were sharp. Brooklyn (Wright) does much better leading our offense with great passing. The girls stayed composed when the last set got tight. We have a few things to work on still, but the girls are working hard and improving.”

Individually for Dixie, Cara Bair had 12 digs and four service aces. Ella Burrows recorded 14 kills. Shawnee Jones had 10 kills and 10 digs.

With the win, the Flyers stay atop the Region 9 standings at 4-0 and have an overall record of 9-2. Dixie will next host Snow Canyon on Tuesday. Cedar falls to 1-3 in region play and 7-7 overall. The Lady Reds will travel to Hurricane on Tuesday.

REGION 9 VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS
1. Dixie 4-0 (9-2)
2. Desert Hills 3-1 (7-5)
3. Snow Canyon 3-2 (7-8)
4. Canyon View 2-2 (8-7)
5. Pine View 2-3 (16-8)
6. Cedar 1-3 (7-7)
7. Hurricane 0-4 (4-8)

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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