4A quarterfinals
Desert Hills 3, Sky View 1
From the outset, Desert Hills coach Josh James felt like Wednesday’s 4A quarterfinal game between No. 3 Desert Hills and No. 6 Sky View would go five sets.
So when his team squandered a late 24-21 lead in the fourth set and gave Sky View two set points, James wasn’t surprised. He was surprised by the poise his team played with to avoid that fifth set, though.
The Thunder executed in those final few points like James has grown accustomed to as the Thunder prevailed 23-25, 25-24, 25-18, 29-17 to advance to Thursday’s 4A semifinals.
Desert Hills will take on No. 7 seed Timpanogos at 10:15 a.m. at UVU.
“At the beginning of the season, we definitely wouldn’t have been able to do that. It wasn’t until we had lost the region title to Crimson, ever since then, they will fight for everything. Since then that’s been our biggest turn around, and they’ve wanted this so bad,” James said.
Early in the season, dropping a first set could’ve presented a mental obstacle, but late in the year Desert Hills has shown it can just shrug it off.
Brodie Hoag led Desert Hills’ attack with 19 kills on 48 attempts, and just as important provided great leadership for his teammates.
“In both of our games today, he has just been a complete leader, on and off the court. In the huddles, he’s a huge leader. On the court, he’s a huge leader. He’s always there to build up the rest of his of his team, and everyone relies on him and he knows that so he never crumbles,” James said.
Jordan Schudde had a strong game with 22 assists, while Kai James chipped in with 24 digs in the win.
Timpanogos 3, Murray 1
Even though No. 7 seed Timpanogos dropped the second set of Wednesday’s 4A quarterfinal game with No. 2 seed Murray, Timpanogos coach Jared Stark wasn’t worried.
The deficit was much larger earlier in the set, and he felt his players great some momentum with strong points late in the set.
Sure enough, that momentum carried over into the final two sets as the T-Wolves pulled away from Murray 25-16, 17-25, 25-23, 25-23 to advance into the semifinals. They will face No. 3 seed Desert Hills at 10:15 a.m.
“When it comes down to clutch time, these guys really step up, and everyone starts swinging harder than ever and playing harder than ever, laying out for every ball. They really turn it on once it starts to count, and I love it. I wish they would do it every point and ever get behind, sure. But they really do turn it on,” Stark said.
During a key stretch in the decisive fourth set, Jacob Ricks had a nine-point run serving the ball.
Chance Wallace had a great game defensively with 26 digs, as did Sam Lowell with six blocks.
Starks was really pleased with the contribution middle hitter Jared Hansen gave his team during key moments.
“When he comes onto the court and onto the front row, he brings an energy with him every time. If we don’t have the momentum it’s his goal to turn it around, and he does really well. In that match, he would come out and get really important block or kill, and he would just light the fire,” Stark said.
Payson 3, Crimson Cliffs 0
Payson coach Kyle Adams said it’s been an up-and-down season for his team this year, but he believes they’re hitting their peak at the right time in the 4A state tournament.
After the fifth-seeded Lions beat Mountain View in four games earlier on Wednesday in the second round, they swept No. 4 seed Crimson Cliffs 25-17, 25-22, 25-21 in the quarterfinals to advance to Thursday’s semifinals.
Payson will face top seed Orem at 10:15 am., a team it lost to twice in region play.
“This season, it’s been up and down. We’ve had fantastic play, we’ve struggled. It’s typical high school sports a game of momentum. And we’ve made some adjustments throughout the season. And I think we’re starting to come into our peak right now,” Adams said.
Senior Waylon Francom led Payson with 11 kills in the quarterfinal win, with Brockton Shirley added 10 more.
Francom was a member of Payson’s boys basketball team that won its first-ever state title a few months ago, and Adams said he’s helped bring that same winners mentality to the volleyball team.
“Right now they’re believing in themselves, and Waylon is one of the captains, one of the leaders of this team,” said Adams. “He plays like he has never won anything, and he has the hunger to win everything. And the guys feed off of Waylon. They look up to him. He’s a class act in school and outside of school, and definitely on the team.”
Jace Mangum had another well-balanced game for Payson as he finished with six kills and three blocks.
Sophomore Zack Kenison was strong in the middle as well for Payson, and his emergence has been a big plus for the team late in the season.
“I think what we’ve been able to do this season has been to develop some of our younger players and players that are brand new to the game this year. And now one of our middles, he’s really starting to pay off all that time that we put him to JV and practice. He’s really coming into his own and being really disruptive at the net, and that’s allowed us to be able to shift guys to other positions,” Adams said.
Orem 2, Green Canyon 0
Much like its first win during the 4A state tournament on Wednesday, top seed Orem rolled through the quarterfinals in relatively easy fashion as it beat No. 9 seed Green Canyon 25-18, 25-10, 25-8.
There was moment in the first set when Orem coach Bill Sefita sensed his team playing a little too passive and called a timeout. He got the exact response he was hoping in a dominant performance the rest of the way.
“We cannot just be a reactive team, like waiting for that team to do something and then we react to it. We got to be more proactive and playing our own volleyball first, and then just taking care of the little things, and that’s what got us to build that big lead in set one,” said Sefita, whose team improved to 24-6 with the win.
Orem standout Ben Hone led the Tigers again with 12 kills in the win, with Lucky Jennings chipping in with eight.
Hone and Jennings were among Orem’s top contributors on last year’s 4A runner-up team, and they’ll try and get the Tigers over the hump with two more wins on Thursday.
Orem will face No. 5 seed Payson in the quarterfinals at 10:15 a.m.
“Last year was last year. We can’t really dwell in the past. All we can do is just move forward. What can we do better this year? And that’s what we’re doing right now is taking care of the ball early on and then controlling the controllables,” Sefita said.
Late in the season, Sefita said that’s included getting everyone involved in the program.
“There are a lot of young players this year. I think this year also is worth figuring out how to connect with every player. I know we haven’t done the best job at the beginning of season, but as we’re finishing up our season, it’s one of the things that we focus heavily on is building player connections,” he said.
Along with Hone and Jennings, Luke Wolsey and Aaron Nielsen both had strong performances in the quarterfinals as they each recorded six kills.
4A second round
Crimson Cliffs 3, Stansbury 0
No. 4 seed Crimson Cliffs lost three straight matches late in the season, but it has turned things around quickly and is now in the 4A quarterfinals. The Mustangs opened the 4A state tournament at UVU on Wednesday with a strong 25-14, 25-10, 25-21 victory over No. 13 Stansbury in the first ever meeting between the schools. Xander Vernon led the way offensively for Crimson Cliffs with nine kills and a .667 hitting percentage, while Colsen Neal recorded 12 digs and passed for a 2.6 Blake Nelson chipped in with a strong game as well with 12 assists and four digs.
Orem 3, West Field 0
Top seed Orem marched through the 4A second round on Wednesday morning at UVU with the comfortable 25-10, 25-21, 25-13 win over No. 17 West Field, improving to 23-6 on the season. Last year’s 4A runner-up, Orem comes into this year’s tournament as the favorite and it showed why with the strong win over West Field. Senior Ben Hone led the way hitting for hte Tigers with 12 kills, while Jackson Sanders and Luke Wolsey each added seven kills. Aaron Maya chipped in with five kills.
Payson 3, Mountain View 1
Payson and Mountain View split their regular season series in Region 8 this year, so despite the disparity in seeding ahead of 4A’s second round game at UVU, it was truly a toss-up game. No. 5 Payson, however, showed great poise throughout Wednesday’s game to pull away from No. 12 seed Mountain View for the 25-22, 25-21, 16-25, 25-16 victory to advance to the quarterfinals. Senior captain Waylon Francom had a great game hitting for the Lions with 18 kills, while Brockton Shirley added 14 kills. Jace Mangum played strong defense on the right side for Payson with four blocks.
Green Canyon 3, Jordan 0
In what figured to be a tight match-up between No. 8 Jordan and No. 9 Green Canyon, it was the lower-seed Wolves who took care of business relatively comfortably in the 4A second round at UVU on Wednesday morning as they prevailed in three games, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23. Josh Brought recorded 13 digs and 10 kills to lead the way for Green Canyon, while sophomore libero Griffin Blau added 18 digs. Keaton Crosbie had a strong game serving with four aces as the Wolves advance to the quarterfinals to face top seed Orem.
Timpanogos 3, Pine View 0
No. 7 Timpanogos got great hitting from Cooper Pope and strong defense from Chance Wallace to roll past No. 10 seed Pine View 25-19, 25-15, 25-10 for the 4A second round victory at UVU on Wednesday morning. Pope tallied 14 kills, while Wallace chipped in with 16 digs. Zack Downey served well recording four aces. The T-Wolves have won seven of their past eight games and carry that momentum into the quarterfinals against No. 2 seed Orem.
Murray 3, Provo 0
No. 2 Murray showed off its grit in knocking off upset-minded No. 18 seed Provo in the 4A second round on Wednesday. The Bulldogs fought tough in all three games, and even led 23-20 late in Game 3, but Murray rallied to complete the sweep at UVU, 25-20, 25-23, 26-24. Alex Beckstead led the way offensively for the Spartans with 16 kills, with Jackson Ketchoyian adding three blocks. Jim Jensen and Alex Cushing each finished with three aces, with two of Jensen’s coming late in the third set as the Spartans rallied or the win.
Desert Hills 3, Cottonwood 0
No. 3 seed Desert Hills ran its winning streak to six straight with a comfortable 25-18, 25-18, 25-18 victory over No. 14 seed Cottonwood in the 4A second round at UVU on Wednesday morning. Junior Brodie Hoag recorded 12 kills on 22 attempts, with just one error, to lead the way offensively for the Thunder. Senior Austin Wintle added nine kills and five blocks, with Jordan Jenson adding five kills. Kai Jensen contributed with eight digs defensively.
Sky View 3, Ridgeline 1
Sky View swept region foe Ridgeline in the regular season, but both went five games so of course the Bobcats expected another tight game when they met in the 4A second round on Wednesday. That’s exactly what the Bobcats got, but they showed great resilience pulling away for the 25-19, 17-25, 25-23, 25-16 victory. Bearett Jackman led Sky VIew in hitting with 15 kills, while sophomore Carson McUne added 14 kills. Jacob McUne chipped in with eight kills and 16 digs, with Krew Stevens adding 12 digs.