Copper Hills lives up to high expectations with dominant season-opening win over Springville

WEST JORDAN — Copper Hills turned some heads at last year’s state tournament by advancing to the semifinals and eventually beating Bingham in the third-place game, and a year later the program is anxious to try to take the next step.

The Grizzlies opened the season Thursday night with an emphatic 25-18, 25-5, 25-12 win over Springville, last year’s 5A runners-up.

It was a quality opponent that Copper Hills coach Silver Fonua purposely tried to schedule to build out a tough 2019 schedule in preparation for the playoffs.

“We have to play teams like that to be more versatile when we get to state,” said Fonua.

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Springville kept things competitive in the first game, but Copper Hills’ strong hitting and defense was just too much to deal with in the lopsided second and third games.

Junior returning second team all-stater Asiah Sopoaga had a dominant first game of the season with 21 kills and just one error.

“She’s a smart hitter, she doesn’t swing for the fences. She’s very smart, she’s just kind of trained herself to see blocks,” said Fonua.

Sopoaga set the tone with some powerful kills in the first game, and never let up. Her twin sister Aliyah Sopoaga, a returning first team all-stater, was just as dominant at setter with 17 assists.

Copper Hills runs a two-setter system, and Teniyah Leuluai added 14 assists and 16 digs.

Most teams only use one setter, but Fonua said it’s a unique setup that works great for his team.

“Usually you have one setter a lot better than the other, and I call myself lucky because we just happened to get both setters here at Copper Hills at the top of their game. Because they’re so good we have to use them both, they bring different things to the table,” said Fonua.

Aliyah Sopoaga is a more athletic setter who Fonua says does dynamic things, while Leuluai is a more technical player, a good student of the game.

Copper Hills used the same two-setter system last season, and Fonua said there’s no divisiveness between the good friends about playing time.

“They’ve been playing volleyball together since they were about 7 years old, so they volleyball well enough that they know they need each other to make the team better,” said Fonua.

Some players hit better on sets by Sopoaga and some from Leuluai, and that allows Fonua to get creative with his lineup to maximize the talent on the court.

Everything worked seamlessly on Thursday. Libero Sydnee Steel chipped in with 14 digs, while front rotation player Lolo Fonua added five kills.