We started out really slow. We lost a lot of games. But we played some really good teams. … And eventually, the girls believed in themselves. – Panguitch head coach Troy Norris
OREM — Despite a senior class that has earned state championships in four sports multiple times in the last three years, this year’s Panguitch volleyball team was unsure just how good they could be.
“We started out really slow,” said Panguitch head coach Troy Norris after the Bobcats swept Monticello 25-18, 25-14, 25-17 to claim their second straight 1A volleyball championship at UVU’s UCCU Center Saturday night. “We lost a lot of games. But we played some really good teams. … And eventually, the girls believed in themselves.”
Why did the defending champions ever doubt their ability to defend that title?
Some of it was hearing how good the other teams might be this season, and some of it was having Norris return to the team as head coach after taking three years off to watch his oldest daughter play college volleyball at UVU.
“We didn’t know if we’d come together,” said setter Shantae Miller, who finished with 14 assists in the championship match. “We didn’t know about the chemistry, just having a new coach.”
Senior outside hitter Chesney Campbell, who helped the school’s volleyball, basketball and track teams win titles last season, said they also knew there was talent on other teams.
“We were kind of worried about Rich,” Campbell said of the tournament’s third-place team. “We heard they had strong outside hitters.”
Miller and Campbell said the team started to gel, even as they were struggling with a lot more losses (seven) than they dealt with last year.
“When you’re losing, it’s hard,” Miller said of how the team managed to come together while losing matches. “We just talked a lot, and eventually we got better. All of us just really tried to be supportive of each other.”
The players said their friendship off the court helps them succeed on the court, regardless of the sport.
“We’re pretty much family,” Miller said. “We spend every second together, and yeah, sometimes we fight. We’re sisters.”
Campbell led the team’s offensive effort with 16 kills, while Whittni Orton added seven kills.
Atlanta Black led Monticello with six kills.
Monticello head coach Tony Esplin said the Buckaroos struggled with passing — something they usually do extremely well.
“They just got us on our heels,” Esplin said. “We just couldn’t recover. Give them a lot of credit. They kept coming right at us and building more and more momentum.”
Norris said he thought the key was how the Bobcats served throughout the match.
“They run such a fast offense that if they make good passes, we can’t stop them,” Norris said. “When we can tell where it’s going, we have the size to stop them.”
Norris said he felt some pressure returning to the team after three years away because his squad is loaded with talented athletes.
“These seniors deserve a state championship,” he said. “They’re as good a group of athletes as we’ve ever had at Panguitch High. They won cross-country (last year); they won basketball; they won track three years in a row. What a phenomenal group of girls.”
Rich High took third place with a win over region-rival Duchesne. Intermountain Christian took fifth place with a five-set win over Monument Valley — 16-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-22, 15-12. The loss meant Monument Valley finished in seventh place. Wayne beat St. Joseph's to earn sixth place, while the Jayhawks' loss earned them eighth place.
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