OREM — Talent is the one thing the Timpanogos volleyball team had plenty of all year long. In fact, the only thing the team really lacked was consistency.
This weekend, in the McKay Center at UVSC, the team found that, too, and the result was something both players and coaches have known they're capable of all season — domination.
"This is the first time we've dominated from the first serve," said Timpanogos coach Angie Roberts after the team won the 4A state championship by beating Mountain View 15-6, 15-6. "I don't remember the last time we won four matches in just two games straight all year. . . . We knew the potential was there.
I don't know why we couldn't dominate from the beginning of the season."
In fact, the T-wolves have made it a habit to miss serves and pass poorly enough that they had to go three games in nearly every match of region play. Despite that, the only team they lost to was Mountain View, another team with loads of talent and troubled with inconsistency.
Known for their powerful offensive weapons in last year's Gatorade Player of the Year Kristin Richards, outside hitter Noelle Filimoe'atu and middle hitter Stephanie Gibson, it was something a lot less glamorous that made the difference for Timpanogos Saturday night.
"Our offense wasn't that great," Roberts said. "It was our serving that kept us in it."
Actually, Timpanogos' offense was solid led by Stanford bound Richards who finished with 12 kills. Gibson had five blocks and Filimoe'atu added six kills and 13 serves with no errors. Loseli Lavaki had 15 serves, three digs, and she and Filimoe'atu were phenomenal defensively for the T-wolves. The win was sweet for the eight Timpanogos seniors who've had the title as their collective goal all season.
"This feels so good to do it my senior year," Richards said. The team's last title was in 5A when she was a freshman. "It was worth the wait."
Filimoe'atu played her first year for Timpanogos this season after moving to Orem from St. George. She said she hasn't slept all week thinking about what it would feel like to win a championship.
"I don't think it's hit me yet," she said. "I'm just in cruise control. I'm calm, cool, collected and happy to be on the court."
And the title was even sweeter for setter Elizabeth Connor who missed all of last season due to academic ineligibility.
"I worked really hard to get here this year," she said. "It's just so fun, so amazing."
Mountain View had moments where the team played to its potential, but most of the match they seemed out of sync or tentative.
"You've got to come play harder than that to win," she said. Lora Mitchell led with six kills, and Ashley Henry had five kills and five digs. Ashley Cheesman added six digs and Tosha Liddle had seven digs.
The Bruins looked like they'd finally clicked after coming into the tournament a No. 3 seed. Mountain View defeated region rival Pleasant Grove 11-15, 15-13, 15-9, in the semi-finals at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
Timpanogos earned a berth into the championship match with a two-game win over the Highland Rams, 15-2, 15-11 earlier Saturday. Highland went on to finish in third place with a win over no. 2 ranked Pleasant Grove 15-8, 15-13.
Woods Cross recovered from a second round loss to take fifth in the tournament by defeating Mountain Crest 15-11, 15-10, and then Olympus 15-3, 9-15,15-9.
Olympus finished seventh after a win over Provo 15-12, 15-3, Saturday afternoon.
In consolation play Spanish Fork defeated Timpview 8-15, 15-4, 15-12, and then beat Payson, 16-14, 15-5, to finish sixth place. Payson was eighth after win over Bonneville 11-15, 16-14, 15-4.
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com