5A quarterfinals
Maple Mountain 3, Beaumont 0
Top-seeded Maple Mountain dominated the first day of the 5A tournament with two 3-0 sweeps, including a 25-10, 25-15, 25-17 victory over No. 9 Beaumont in the 5A quarterfinals.
“It's a fun environment to have so many games going on at the same time,” Maple Mountain head coach Jeff Wright said. “There's great talent everywhere. I've never seen Beaumont before, but they played against Alta and played differently than we've ever played in our area. Against a new team. I’m excited to do it.”
Taft Hillman led the Golden Eagles in blocks and aces, contributing to the victory with six aces and four blocks. Maple Mountain's Trey Thornton led the way with 13 kills out of his 27 attempts, while Johan Stoops, Mack Hillman and Gavin Pricer all had five kills.
“There's a lot of chemistry going on and we've really become a family,” Wright said. “I love how they build as brothers and support each other and work together.”
The win advanced Maple Mountain to Saturday's 5A semifinal at UVU.
“Obviously we're going to try not to be overconfident. We're going to have some good games on Saturday,” Wright said. “We don't want to be overconfident, but we need to go into the match with confidence that we can win.”
Spanish Fork 3, Wasatch 2
For the third time this season, the Spanish Fork Dons and Wasatch Wasps were down to five sets. Two regular season games were played between the two teams, but No. 5 Spanish Fork won 25-15, 20-25, 25-20, 23-25, 15-11 on Thursday to advance to the 5A semifinals. advanced.
“We've played Wasatch a number of times this season and we've gone five sets each time,” Spanish Fork head coach Valerie Benson said. “So that back-and-forth and not letting other teams make big strides is something we've been working hard at. We've got to keep doing that and stop them from running wild.”
Connor Brockbank led the Dons with 23 kills, 19 digs and two aces, while Traven Davis also had 18 digs. Caleb Cabrera was also active at the net for the Wasps, recording eight blocks in the quarterfinal win.
“I thought we looked out for free balls,” Benson said. “We’ve been working really hard on our free-ball execution and it really clicked today.”
Spanish Fork will play top-seeded Maple Mountain at UVU on Saturday.
“The message was to keep having fun. That's our motto this whole season and it's the first season so we want everyone to love this sport, be passionate about it and remember it's a game. We play hard, we give our all, and we just have fun.”
Olympus 3, Skyline 2
In the second round of the 5A tournament, No. 2 Olympus had to crawl to a 23-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-19, 16-14 victory over No. 10 Skyline. The Titans led 14-11 in the final set, but the Eagles fought back to tie the score at 14-14.
“There's always a little bit of anxiety in a set like this, but I think we just believed in what got us here,” Olympus head coach Brett Peterson said. “We trusted our defense and believed we could go all the way. We have a lot of confidence in our players and they've put in a lot of effort to earn it.”
After tying the score, Olympus quickly responded with a two-point run, and Youse Jones got the final kill to win the fifth set 16-14. Jones finished the game with 15 kills.
“I can't overstate how important it is to fight for wins at State University and know what it takes to win at State University. The hope is that we will Being able to bring that fire to any team we play and do exactly what we did.”
Titans' Leaf Smiley led the defense with eight blocks and also hit five aces. Olympus senior Myles Burningham had 16 kills, and Soren Jepsen also contributed to the win with 12 kills and two blocks.
Peterson said that while the offense played well, it was the defense that saved the team today.
“The offense was great and has been good all season,” Peterson said. “Today, I think it was because of our defense that we were able to get through that game. Relying on our defense to pick up the ball and turning digs into offense was new for us in a way. So I thought they were great in that game.”
Bountiful 3, Clearfield 0
No. 3 Bountiful continued its perfect performance throughout the first day of the 5A state tournament, sweeping No. 13 Clearfield 26-24, 25-18, 25-23 in the quarterfinals.
“I thought they stayed consistent,” Bountiful head coach Sarah Chism said. “We were a little nervous at first, but they got through it together, stayed consistent with our game plan and let the game go to them. They didn’t force anything and were patient all day long. I thought you gave it to me.”
Outside hitter Connor Burleson had 14 kills, Landon Chism had seven kills and Jacob Bremner had four kills for the Redhawks, who advanced to the 5A semifinals.
“The goal was to go Saturday and we wanted to have a big fight,” Chism said. “I'm really looking forward to what we can do on Saturday and it's going to be a lot of fun to see the level of volleyball across the state. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch and be a part of.”
5A 2nd round
Maple Mountain 3, Box Elder 0
Top-seeded Maple Mountain got its start to the state tournament with a convincing 25-9, 25-17, 25-20 victory over No. 17 Box Elder in the second round of the 5A tournament. As a team, the Golden Eagles had eight aces and six blocks. Trey Thornton led Maple Mountain to the win with 13 kills on net.
Beaumont 3, Alta 2
No. 9 Beaumont narrowly escaped with a 25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 23-25, 16-14 victory over No. 8 Alta in the second round of the 5A tournament. The Vikings started the game with a 2-0 set lead, but the Hawks fought back to tie the game at 2-2. Beaumont took a 16-14 lead in the fifth set and won the match, advancing to the 5A quarterfinals. Beaumont middle blockers Christian Hurst and Thomas McKay were outstanding in the win, with Hurst recording four kills and three blocks and McKay recording seven blocks and four kills. Darin Leather also had five kills, one block and 31 assists.
Spanish Fork 3, Granger 0
In the second round of the 5A tournament, No. 5 Spanish Fork got the job done, dominating No. 21 Granger, 25-13, 25-15, 25-19. Dons setter Tyson Mansfield had 39 assists and Connor Brockbank led the way with 19 kills. Caleb Cabrera also helped Spanish Fork with nine kills.
Wasatch 3, Salem Hills 1
No. 4 Wasatch avoided a comeback from No. 13 Salem Hills and won 25-18, 25-20, 16-25, 25-20 to advance to the 5A quarterfinals. In the win, the Wasps defense stood out and thwarted the Skyhawks' attack. Wasatch outside hitter Chase Billeter was outstanding in the win along with JJ Sale who had 10 kills in the win.
clear field 3, hunter 1
In the 5A second round, No. 11 Clearfield bounced back from a one-set loss to defeat No. 6 Hunter 18-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-23. The Falcons' outside hitters Gabe Christensen and Sebastian Rodriguez led the attack, with Christensen recording 13 kills, 17 digs and an ace, while Rodriguez had 10 kills and five digs. Clearfield's Steve Sirius had nine blocks and Tavian Singletary had six kills and six blocks.
Bountiful 3, Brighton 0
No. 3 Bountiful wasted no time, defeating No. 14 Brighton 25-14, 25-21, 25-21 in the 5A second round. Bountiful's Connor Burleson recorded his 14 kills, followed by Landon Chism with his 13 kills. Mason Allen also helped the Redhawks win with eight kills.
Skyline 3, Timpview 2
After winning 2-0 against No. 7 Timpview, the No. 10 Skyline survived a comeback and won the second round 25-17, 25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 15-12. Skyline's Henry Hiatt led the way with six kills, followed by Kaleo Reyes with five and Maxwell Malmrose with four.
Olympus 3, Cedar Valley 0
Second place Olympus defeated 15th place Cedar Valley 25-21, 27-25, 25-21 to advance to the 5A quarterfinals. The Titans had 39 kills, seven aces and six blocks in the second round victory. Olympus outside hitter Miles Burningham led the attack with 14 kills and three aces. Burningham was supported by Leaf Smiley who had 12 kills.
