4A Boys Volleyball: Region 8 dominates, Orem plays Timpanogos in semifinals | News, Sports, Jobs

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Orem's Aaron Nielsen (11) attacks the ball during the second round of the 4A boys volleyball state tournament against the Hurricanes on Friday, May 10, 2024, at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Darnell Dixon, Daily Herald

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Timpanogos' Cooper Pope, 10, celebrates a five-set upset of Ridgeline during the 4A boys volleyball state tournament Friday, May 10, 2024, at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Darnell Dixon, Daily Herald

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Timpanogos' Jack Scribner, left, jousts during a game against Ridgeline in the 4A boys volleyball state tournament on Friday, May 10, 2024, at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Darnell Dixon, Daily Herald

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Orem's Keanu Calles (yellow) passes the ball during a second-round 4A boys volleyball state tournament game against the Hurricanes on Friday, May 10, 2024, at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Darnell Dixon, Daily Herald

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Brockton Shirley, 5, of Payson celebrates with his teammates after a five-set victory over Crimson Cliffs in the 4A boys volleyball state tournament Friday, May 10, 2024, at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Darnell Dixon, Daily Herald

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The Orem bench reacts to a play during the second round of the 4A boys volleyball state tournament against the Hurricanes on Friday, May 10, 2024, at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Darnell Dixon, Daily Herald

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The Timpanogos boys volleyball team celebrates a point in the second round of the 4A boys state tournament against Ridgeline on Friday, May 10, 2024 at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Darnell Dixon, Daily Herald

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Orem boys volleyball coach Bill Sefita (in blue) watches a game during the 4A boys volleyball state tournament on Friday, May 10, 2024, at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Darnell Dixon, Daily Herald

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Orem's Lucky Jennings, left, and teammate Luke Woolsey stand up for a block during a second round 4A boys volleyball state tournament game at the UCCU Center in Orem on Friday, May 10, 2024. .

Darnell Dixon, Daily Herald

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Orem's Keanu Calles serves the ball during the second round of the 4A boys volleyball state tournament against the Hurricanes on Friday, May 10, 2024, at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Darnell Dixon, Daily Herald

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Timpanogos player Jack Scribner (right) gives the ball to teammate Noah Curtis during a game against Ridgeline in the second round of the 4A boys volleyball state tournament on Friday, May 10, 2024, at the UCCU Center in Orem. Set.

Darnell Dixon, Daily Herald

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Orem's Ben Horn, left, takes a swing during the second round of the 4A boys volleyball state tournament against the Hurricanes on Friday, May 10, 2024, at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Darnell Dixon, Daily Herald

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Since 2024 was the first year of boys high school volleyball in Utah, it was difficult to know where the strongest teams were based on regular season results.

The first day of the Class 4A tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem clearly showed the dominance of Region 8.

Orem, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, dominated the No. 16 Hurricanes (25-20, 25-13, 25-18) in open play and defeated Region 8 rival and No. 8 seed Mountain View in four sets. 25-25). -15, 19-25, 25-13, 25-20) to advance to the semi-finals.

“We had to be mentally tough on the floor,” Orem coach Bill Sefita said. “I think it's one of the hardest things to play against again because we're in the same region. We talked a lot in preparation today to be mentally tough and I thought we did pretty well. Masu.”

Sephita led the Orem girls team to the volleyball state title in the fall.

“Especially since it's our first year in men's volleyball, it's good to bring that experience to this part of the game before the men,” he said. “Coming back after dropping the second set, it's about playing to win and playing not to lose. And that's just one of the things we always talk about. There's When you're there, you just play every point instead of waiting to do something. We wanted to be proactive in how we played the game.”

Ben Horne had 15 kills and Keanu Coles added 13 kills for the Tigers (27-3).

Then the upset happened.

No. 13 Timpanogos and No. 12 seed Payson pulled off shockers in the second round, defeating No. 4 seed Ridgeline (5 sets) and No. 5 seed Crimson Cliffs (4 sets), respectively. The two Region 8 rivals were split into five sets in the league match, and continued into the night with a thrilling five-set match in the quarterfinals. In the fifth set, Timpanogos took a 14-12 lead on a kill from Sam Lowell. On match point, Lowell converted a shot off a Payson block for a 15-13 victory and the T-Wolves advanced to Saturday's semifinals, where they will face Orem. The Tigers swept Timpanogos twice during the regular season.

Timpanogos and Payson score second round upsets

Timpanogos took the first two sets against No. 4 Ridgeline, but the Riverhawks won the next two and then stole the fifth set in their second-round matchup.

“I told the players we needed to get the energy back for the first set,” T-Wolves senior setter Jack Scribner said. “We dominated them with energy, but we lost it and we slipped through the third and third set. We gave them the win in the fifth set and played our game.”

Timpanogos took an 8-3 lead in the fifth set and rode that momentum to victory until the end, but Ridgeline tied it in sets 12 and 13. Cooper Pope hit a shot down the line and the T-Wolves had match point at 14. 13. Ridgeline's attack continued long toward the final point.

“I asked them, 'Do you want it?'” Timpanogos coach Whitney Cox said. “And they did. To be honest, everyone just showed up. That's how it turned out.”

Payson lost the first set to Crimson Cliffs in the fifth set, but took control and won the next three sets to advance to the quarterfinals.

3A tournament

Third-seeded American Heritage defeated No. 14 Dugway with a sweep (25-16, 25-13, 25-17) on Friday morning to advance to the quarterfinals, but in a thrilling five-set (17-set) ) and lost to 6th place Morgan. -25, 20-25, 25-17, 25-15, 15-8) will be placed in the repechage bracket. The Patriots (17-8) will play seventh-seeded UMA Hill Field on Friday for a spot in the fifth- and seventh-place game.

10th-seeded Freedom Prep lost to 7th-seeded UMA-Hill Field 3-0 (27-25, 25-17, 26-24) and 15th-seeded UMA-Camp Williams 2-0. They won (27-25, 25). -22) In the repechage match. The Eagles (5-13) will play No. 11 Judge Memorial on Friday, with the winner advancing to the 6th-8th place game.

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