6A quarterfinals
After losing its opening set, Skyridge rallied to a 25-27, 28-26, 25-19, 25-22 win to knock off top seeded Herriman in the 6A quarterfinals.
“It feels super good,” said Skyridge head coach Kaipo Tagaloa. “I knew my boys were ready and wanted to play hard. We’ve been working hard these past few weeks on staying aggressive on every aspect of the volleyball. We’re making sure we’re not feeling intimidated or hesitant. I was super proud of them for staying aggressive.”
Falcons’ Franky Fainga led in kills with 24 and aces with three, while libero Clay Warner tallied 29 digs.
“They feel great, they look great, they’re playing together, there’s no hard feelings going on and they’re working out their issues together,” said Tagaloa.
In its opening set of the day in the second round, No. 5 Lone Peak lost 18-25 to Farmington. After that opening set Lone Peak won six sets while only losing one which included a 3-1 win over No. 4 Mountain Ridge in the 6A quarterfinals.
“First set of the day there’s nerves, there’s big lights, it’s a big gym and I just think it was nerves at first,” said Lone Peak head coach Cecil Read. “After that opening set the jitters were gone and we started running Lone Peak volleyball. We played really good, and when we were good we were great, but when we were off a little bit teams took advantage.”
The Knights had even attacks with Cade Dalley recording 10 kills, Brady Holt and Ethan Wright with nine, and Freddy Dayton with eight. It was an emotional win for Lone Peak, who advanced to Saturday’s 6A semifinal.
“That team ran in first all year and we never got to play them.” Read said. “We knew they were great but we never saw them play so it was a little bit of the unknown. There’s kids on (Mountain Ridge) that I coached when they were nine and ten years old. So, you know how good they are because they’ve been playing this game for a long time. We just wanted to play Lone Peak volleyball and we knew if we did that we’re really hard to deal with.”
No. 3 Pleasant Grove beat No. 11 Bingham in both of its matches in the regular season, including a 3-1 win on May 8. Despite the wins, Pleasant Grove head coach Dave Neeley knew they couldn’t underestimate the Miners.
“We played Bingham in March early in the season and we played them again just last week, they fought us hard both times and of course they beat Riverton. We knew they had good players but we came out and took care of business. We served well, we blocked well, we passed well, we did everything that we always try to do and it showed in the result.”
The Vikings swept the Miners 25-19, 25-18, 25-22 in the 6A quarterfinal. Pleasant Grove senior Tyson Jarvis led in kills with 13, with Kenadi Lee recording 10 and Weston Johanson adding nine.
After the win Neeley emphasized that getting to the Saturday 6A semifinal has been a goal for this group since the beginning of the season.
“You always set goals at the beggining of the season and one was certainly to get to Saturday, but its exciting to be part of the final four. The 6A field is wild, there were so many teams here good enough to win the whole thing, so to still be standing is a blessing.”
No. 7 Syracuse shocked No. 2 Westlake as it advanced to the 6A semifinals with a 25-15, 20-25, 25-17, 25-19 6A quarterfinal win.
“We just were very consistent and we didn’t get rattled,” said Syracuse head coach Corrie Vigil. “There were a few moments where we stayed consistent, we went back to our game plan and just executed. We have to make sure we’re disciplined because most of the teams are bigger than us.”
Syracuse’s Davis Caldwell tallied 22 kills while Chase Berrett had 20 of his own. Titan’s Caleb Roskelley also had 45 assists in the quarterfinal win. “It’s just anyone’s game at this point.
“I’m just proud of them,” Vigil said. “They came out and executed and did what we asked them to do.”
6A second round
After losing its first set, No. 5 Lone Peak rallied for a 18-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-21 win over No. 12 Farmington. Freddy Dayton led the Knights with 16 kills, with Adam Cave also getting nine, and Cade Dalley and Brady Hold each tallying eight kills.
Top seeded Herriman held off No. 16 Lehi in a 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 25-16 6A second round win. Mustangs’ libero Mattix Huffman lifted the defense with middle blocker Henry Southard helping on the net. Herriman’s outside hitter Tony Kowalewski was also racking up the kills to help his team advance to the 6A quarterfinals.
No. 9 Skyridge recovered from a first set loss to beat No. 8 Davis 18-25, 32-30, 25-13, 27-25 in the second round of the 6A tournament. Falcons’ Franky Fainga led in kills, blocks and aces with 26 kills, six aces and three blocks in the win.
Mountain Ridge 3, American Fork 1
Every set was between two points as No. 4 Mountain Ridge beat No. 13 American Fork 23-25, 29-27, 30-28, 28-26 in the 6A second round. Sentinels’ outside hitters Clark Fowler and Xander Colemere stood out on the net. Mountain Ridge’s setter Curtis Fowler also had a nice game in the win.
The Bingham Miners lost both regular season matchups against the Riverton Silverwolves, but on Thursday No. 11 Bingham narrowly beat No. 6 Riverton 25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 13-25, 15-9 in the 6A second round. Miners’ Ethan Peterson ended the game with 10 kills and eight blocks. BIngham senior Grady Lynch led in kills with 13, while Brody Siddoway added 11.
No. 2 Westlake advanced to the 6A quarterfinals with a 25-16, 23-25, 25-16, 25-17 win over No. 15 Weber. Thunder’s Tyler Rowley led in kills with 14 and Kilika Tafa was right behind with 12. Westlake setter Keagan Cundiff ended the second round game with 35 assists.
No. 7 Syracuse had little issue against No. 10 Corner Canyon as the Titans earned a 25-14, 25-19, 25-23 sweep over the Chargers. Titans’ Chase Barrett led in scoring with 12 kills, while Davis Caldwell and Gabe Meredith each had six. Syracuse’s Caleb Roskelley also had 24 assists in the second round win.
Pleasant Grove 3, Copper Hills 2
No. 3 Pleasant Grove weathered a five set nailbiter against No. 14 Copper Hills to take the 25-22, 12-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-10 second round win. Vikings’ senior outside hitter Weston Johanson racked up the kills, totaling 15 in the game. Pleasant Grove’s Tyson Jarvis and Kenadi Lee also had 12 kills and four aces each.