High School girls volleyball: Orem sweeps Mountain View in an intra-city rivalry clash

The Orem Tigers showed why they’re ranked No. 3 in the state in a decisive three-set match over their intra-city rival Mountain View Bruins. Going up against the Bruins’ during a breast cancer awareness pink-out, the Tigers flexed all their muscles.

Orem got out to a hot start, winning all three sets — thee first one 25-12, the second one 25-11, and an intense third set 25-22.

Orem played an elite overall game, their hitting, blocking, setting, and digs all on point. The Tigers quite literally flexed their muscles with their tall outside hitters. After being served up perfect sets, each hitter perfectly timed jumps and perfectly lined up their hit to go exactly where the opposition wasn’t.

When asked about the girls’ hitting, Orem coach Bill Sefita said, “I’ll give it to our girls. We’re very hard on them. (We work on) how can we have confidence and show up when the ball is given to you? I mean, having an attitude of gratitude that you’re being set, and then, two, going out there and show up, I mean going up there with some confidence and put the ball away.”

Sefita’s team did just that, jumping out to early leads in the first two sets. In the third set, the tide shifted as Mountain View’s defense clamped down. After a back-and-forth affair, Sefita took a timeout to talk with his players. A social worker and therapist, Sefita, used his training to get his team in the right mindset for victory.

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“I mean the perks of being a social worker slash therapist,” Sefita said. “We’re checking in, like, where are we at? I asked them where our focus level was out of 100. Where are we sitting at? They said ‘85′. All that I’m asking them is, can we ramp it up to 86 percent rather than 100 because it’s impossible to go from 85 to 100.”

The therapy worked perfectly as the entire team showed up to secure a victory. 6-foot-1 senior Kambri Kuhni added seven kills on just 10 attempts. Maddie Scott, a freshman, led the team with 11 kills. Sophie Campbell added six kills, Haven Michaelis had five kills, and Kalei Kamanao rounded out the victory with three kills.

While the whole team played a complete match, Sefita named Scarlett Page his MVP of the game. The junior libero commanded the entire game with stifling defense, perfectly placed sets, and precision serving that kept Orem ahead every time she served.

Orem and Mountain View will face off one more time this season on Oct. 22 — a game that will likely decide the winner of their region.