The 3A girls high school volleyball tournament was off and running and was full of action Friday night at UVU.
The early slate of games saw top-seeded Morgan go head-to-head with No. 9 Union and while that game was going on, No. 12 Emery battled No. 13 Manti.
Later in the evening, No. 2 Richfield went up against No. 7 North Sanpete, while No. 3 Ogden found itself pitted against No. 11 South Summit.
Each one of the higher seeded teams came away victorious, advancing themselves to Saturday’s semifinals. None of the four matches were easy, however, as they all went four sets.
- Morgan came across a feisty Union team, a group of players that came prepared to play. Union was up for the challenge and gave Morgan all it could handle, never trailing by more than four points during the first three sets.
Morgan took control in the fourth set, winning it 25-14.
“I think that Union served really well,” said Morgan head coach Liz Wiscombe. “They also adjusted and blocked us very well. Because of that we had to make some adjustments and they played really good defense.
“Whenever we go up against Union we know that it’s going to be a good match because they are very well, coached, play with a lot of heart and a lot of intensity.”
- Emery got off to an incredibly sluggish start however losing a first set that was never close 13-25.
Whatever was said going into the second set must have worked, because Emery turned things completely around and won the next three sets in decisive and dominant fashion.
- In the nightcap, Richfield was out for revenge against North Sanpete, a team it had lost to earlier in the season.
The first two sets were, close with Richfield winning the first one 25-22 before North Sanpete evened things with a 20-25 in the second.
The final two sets were convincingly in Richfield’s favor, as it won 25-14 and 25-12.
“Our goal going in was to control what we could control,” said Richfield head coach Cassy Moon. “We have been working really hard on serving balls deep, first ball kills and trying to get the ball on the ground on the other side of the court before the other team even has a chance.”
- It took a while for Ogden to get its heads in the match, and in a surprise, it lost the first set to underdog South Summit, 23-25.
The next two sets saw the two teams go back and forth, with neither one wanting to give an inch.
Ogden grinded out 26-24 and 25-22 wins in those sets and then took the fourth and final one 25-10.
In the semifinals, Morgan will face Emery, while Ogden has a date with Richfield, with the four teams looking to secure their spots in the state championship, to be held Saturday at 7 p.m.