High school volleyball: Skyridge dominates Provo to open up Region 8 action
By Brian Preece For the Deseret News Published: Sept. 15, 2017 SCOREBOARD Skyridge 3 Provo 0 PROVO — Last week was extremely rough for the Skyridge volleyball team as it lost three starters. Outside hitter Sherstin Pond injured her ankle in practice and in the first-round game of the gold bracket of the Wasatch Volleyball Festival Saturday, setters Cici Hauver and Kaitlin Standifird collided diving for the volleyball and both ended up getting concussions. This forced Falcon head coach Deanna Meyer to rely on her bench and the reserves came through as Skyridge (1-0) easily defeated Provo (0-1) 25-9, 25-12, 25-8 Thursday night to open up Region 8 play. "We had to go to our bench and the kids stepped up," said Meyer. "It was nice to see them play hard and play strong." Meyer had to be concerned losing both her setters going into league play, but sophomore Kate Jensen was excellent quarterbacking both the offense and shining from the service line. Jensen had 13 service points in the first set, including four aces. Jensen ended up with five aces in the match and was the server on 21 of Skyridge's points. While Jensen was filling her role admirably, another sophomore had another huge game as Naomi Pulu led the Falcons with 12 kills. Junior Kenadee Christensen added five kills and senior Brinley Watkins had four. With the match in hand, Meyer also found time for hitters Ellie Slater and Shaylee Cuff and Meyer was pleased with their play. "I thought our bench players kept our level of play high," Meyer said. Provo did have some bright spots, including the play of Emma Mercer, who had nine digs and was effective passing from her libero position. Brian Preece is a freelance sportswriter. He was also the head wrestling coach from Provo High School from 1994-2006 and in 2006 Preece was named as the Utah Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
0 Comments
Girls volleyball:
Pleasant Grove sweeps Skyridge Brian E. Preece Herald Correspondent
The Vikings (2-0) have been a force in the state’s largest classification for more than a decade and served notice that nothing has changed in 2017, even though the largest classification is now 6A rather than 5A. “Our culture is secure every year,” said Pleasant Grove head coach Allyce Jones. “This team is as special as the last one.” Skyridge is definitely an up-and-coming program as the school enters its second year of existence, but the Falcons, who came into this match with a 2-0 record, were simply overmatched. But that was okay with Falcon head coach Deanna Meyer, who previously coached at Lone Peak for 16 seasons winning five state titles and placing second four times and whose fiercest rival was Pleasant Grove. “I wanted this match because it would show us what we needed to work on and that we need to keep working hard,” stated Meyer. Meyer also had high praises for Viking middle blocker and outside hitter Heather Gneiting. “Gneiting is a great player, I really think she could be an All-American this year,” Meyer added. Jones echoed the praise of the opposing coach. “Heather (Gneiting) is an incredible athlete,” she said. “We want to set her the ball more (at outside hitter) and her passing is incredible.” Gneiting had 12 kills in the match and hit an stratospheric .625. Gneiting was backed up by Kazna Tarawhiti, who had seven kills, while Bryton Bishop added six. Megan Sintay also added six kills and earned the praises of her coach. “When she (Sintay) comes in, she comes in firing and lights us up,” Jones said. The Vikings used a duo to quarterback the offense and both Bailey Bishop and Alia Rasmussen were stellar getting 17 and 15 assists, respectively. The Vikings were in control most of the evening, though they trailed 10-6 in the third set. But then Pleasant Grove scored six straight points to go ahead 12-10 before Skyridge used a timeout and got a point after that. But Pleasant Grove never trailed and methodically pulled away to claim the third set 25-18. One of the keys to the Viking success was the serving of Rasmussen who had six aces. Skyridge was led by Emilee Rupp who had five kills while setter Cici Hauver had a solid game with 11 assists. Reagan Calton paced the Falcon defense with eight digs. |