High school volleyball: 5A state tournament Day 1 recap, Maple Mountain, Woods Cross, Bountiful, Alta advance to semifinals
5A quarterfinals
Maple Mountain 3, Viewmont 0
Top seed Maple Mountain made quick work of No. 9 seed Viewmont in the 5A quarterfinals with a 25-13, 25-9, 25-17 win on Thursday at UVU. Coach Adam Longmore highlighted his team’s serving as the catalyst to the victory.
“We’ve spent a lot of time talking about serving and what it means to be a good server. And a lot of matches, especially against better opponents, better quality opponents, the serving game for us has been the x-factor. We had a bunch of aces, we got them out of system a ton, and I think that’s one of the biggest reasons we came away with the win,” said Longmore.
Maple Mountain advances to the semifinals for the second straight year with the win and will take on Woods Cross. Longmore said experience has helped his team all year, and he’s hoping the experience of Thursday’s wins carry over to Saturday’s semifinals.
“There’s no substitute for experience, and so we’ve got a lot of kids that were here last year, a lot of kids that have played a lot of club, a lot of kids that have played volleyball for a long time,” said Longmore.
Woods Cross 3, Salem Hills 2
No. 4 seed Woods Cross survived a thriller in the 5A quarterfinals on Thursday as it narrowly edged No. 5 seed Salem Hills, 21-25, 25-19, 20-25, 25-20, 17-15 at UVU.
Sophomore outside hitter Avery Poulton played an outstanding match for the Wildcats as she recorded 16 digs and 13 kills, including the winning kill in the back-and-fourth final set. Alisi Tapa’atoutai also had a big match with 17 kills. WIth the win, Woods Cross advances to the 5A semifinals on Saturday to face top seed Maple Mountain.
“We had our up moments, we had our down moments, Salem Hills is a super good team as you saw, but we also have to remind ourselves why were playing because the game is fun,” said Woods Cross coach Josey Hilton. “So a couple of times we told some jokes in the time out to loosen them up, and other time we said let’s get intense.”
It was a big win for a Woods Cross team that a few times had four freshman on the court. One of those freshman was setter Zamari Christensen, who had 36 assists and 13 digs. Fellow freshman Ella Hinton also come into the match and had a big impact late. Salem Hills led 8-5 at one point in the fifth set, but Woods Cross rallied to tie it quickly at 9-9.
“We were up 5-3 and they came back and did a huge run on us, so that’s when you call a timeout to change momentum and then you just kind of remind them about the game plan,” said Hilton.
Bountiful 3, Skyline 1
Taylor Harvey pounded out 28 kills, while Milika Satuala added 22 more as No. 2 seed Bountiful held off a spirited effort from No. 7 seed Bountiful for the 5A quarterfinal win at UVU, 25-13, 25-22, 28-30, 25-19.
Elsie Breinholt made big contributions in the second set, including getting two aces in a row in the tight second set.
“I think there’s just a quiet sense of confidence with these girls. We practice situations like this in our gym all the time. So we set them up for hard situations so that when it comes game time for them it’s easy for them and they really pulled through,” said Bountiful coach Kelsie White.
With the win, Bountiful advances to the 5A semifinals on Saturday at 10 a.m. and will face Alta. A year ago Bountiful also advanced to the semis, but lost in five sets to Timpview.
Harvey, who went over 1,000 career kills in the second round earlier on Thursday, is a player who White said always raises the level of her teammates as much as contributing big points.
“She’s such a leader, and she brings that urgency and that high level of play, and it’s an expectation when she’s on the court. I feel so lucky to coach her, but to know her even better. She’s a phenomenal person, a phenomenal player,” said White.
Alta 3, Northridge 1
No. 14 Alta came into the state tournament as a low seed, but pushed its way into the 5A semifinal with a 10-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-19 win over No. 11 Northridge in the 5A quarterfinal.
“We’re just playing for each other right now,” said Alta head coach Sara Kane. “We have worked really, really hard all season to overcome a lot of different things in terms of like confidence and changing the trajectory of this program. I think today we’re peaking at the right time and I just think they’re playing really, really good team volleyball.”
Alta sophomores Brooke Ridge and Catherine Brinkman led in hitting with 12 kills each, while Paisley Wallace had 19 digs. The Hawks hope to push their Cinderella run even further in Saturdays 5A semifinals.
“Coming in at a low seed, I think a lot of teams underestimate us,” said Kane. “We’re scrappy, we work hard, and that definitely came to our advantage today. Overall, they just outwork everybody that they play and that’s been something that we’ve talked about all season long. Going into tomorrow, I’m really confident that we’re getting underestimated again, but we love to be an underdog.”
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5A second round
Salem Hills 3, Cyprus 0
Ella Robbins recorded 18 kills with a .600 hitting percentage, and then Rubee Anderson chipped in with seven kills as No. 5 Salem Hills swept No. 12 seed Cyprus for the 5A second round win at UVU. Salem Hills setter Jaiden Van Horn had a strong match controlling the offense, while Daxlyn Gammell was strong defensively with 13 digs in the win. With the win, Salem Hills advanced to face Woods Cross in the quarterfinals.
Viewmont 3, Brighton 2
No. 9 seed Viewmont stunned No. 8 Brighton after losing the first two sets in the 5A second round as it rallied for the exciting five-set victory, 17-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-16, 15-9. Miya Edgington and CJ Johnson combined for 58 assists to lead the attack for the Vikings. Maddie Lege recorded 17 kills and two aces, with freshman middle hitter Klancee Larsen chipping in with 12 kills.
Maple Mountain 3, Cedar Valley 0
Top seed Maple Mountain made quick work of No. 17 seed Cedar Valley in the 5A second round at UVU on Thursday, 25-16, 25-12, 25-22. Senior setter Morgan Pratt played a great match according to coach Adam Longmore as she distributed the ball well to all the Golden Eagles hitters. Middle hitter Kayla Marshall had a lot of kills early to help set the tone. Longmore also highlighted right-side hitter Rachel Workman for a strong performance as well.
Woods Cross 3, Springville 0
No. 4 seed Woods Cross rolled past No. 20 seed Springville for the 5A second round win at UVU on Thursday. Freshman Brylee Howard had a great match as she hit a .750 with 10 kills on 12 attempts to lead the way for the Wildcats. Fellow Freshman Zamari Christensen recorded 24 assists running a 6-2 offense for Woods Cross. Alisa Tapa’atoutai record four kills in the middle, while Woods Cross libero Dani Brey had a strong defensive game with 18 digs. With the victory, Woods Cross advanced to the quarterfinals to face Salem Hills.
Alta 3, Hunter 2
No. 14 seed Alta overcame a 1-0 deficit and then a 2-1 deficit to rally past No. 3 seed Hunter for the 5A second round win on Thursday, 22-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-12, 15-11. With the win, Alta advanced into the quarterfinals to face No. 6 seed Northridge. Brook Ridge led the Hawks with 14 kills, with Catherine Brinkman recording five kills and five blocks in the win. Kinnley Lingmann added seven kills, with Madi Evans contributing four blocks.
Bountiful 3, East 0
No. 2 seed Bountiful rolled past No. 18 seed East in the 5A second round at UVU 25-12, 25-6, 25-14. It was a noteworthy day for junior outside hitter Taylor Harvey. She recorded 15 kills in the win as she went over 1,000 career kills as she now sits at 1,006 kills. Sophomore Milika Satuala added 17 kills in a dominant performance as well for the Redhawks, with Adelaide Stevenson adding three aces.
Skyline 3, Timpview 1
No. 7 seed Skyline overcame a mistake-filled first set to rally past No. 10 seed Timpview for the 5A second round victory at UVU, 23-25, 25-20, 25-6, 25-15. Freshman hitter Nafanua Alofipo had a great game hitting for the Eagles according to coach Mondo Begay, as did setter Grace Fredrick as she made good choices with where to set the ball throughout the match. Coach Begay also highlighted the senior leadership of Olivia Hays, who helped the team fight through that slow start.
Northridge 3, West Jordan 0
No. 11 seed Northridge used a strong hitting game from Tori Hunter and Lia Brown to sweep No. 11 seed West Jordan for the 5A second round win at UVU, 25-23, 25-15, 25-18. Brown finished with 10 kills with a .345 kill percentage, while Hunter had seven kills with a .500 kill percentage. Bailee Tucker added seven kills as well as a .318 kill percentage, while Miranda Brown played great defensively with 21 digs and passed well with a 2.5 serve-receive.
