4A girls state volleyball: Region 9 teams look to make noise at 2-day championship tournament at UVU

Written by E. George Goold
October 24, 2023

ST. GEORGE — As with a couple of other fall prep sports, the 4A girls state volleyball tournament will feature Region 9 rematches in the second round.

The two-day event takes place Wednesday-Thursday at UCCU Arena on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem.

The 16-team field will play a double-elimination format with a champion scheduled to be crowned Thursday around 9 p.m. First-game action on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. will pit four Region 9 teams playing each after two other region teams face unfamiliar foes.

No. 3 seed and Region 9 champion Desert Hills (21-10) will play No. 19 Crimson Cliffs (10-19).

Snow Canyon’s Avery Thorkelson (center) retrieves a serve against Murray in a 4A girls state volleyball playoff match, St. George, Utah, Oct. 21, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

The Thunder finished on top of Region 9 at 9-1 while the Mustangs compiled a 5-8 mark in region play.

Desert Hills beat Crimson Cliffs 3-1 and 3-0 in the matches against one another during the regular season. 

“I think our key is always how we play together as a team,” Desert Hills coach Craig Allred told St. George News after the Thunder beat Cedar to win the Region 9 crown on Oct. 17.

“We had some games where one person’s done really well, and sometimes we’ve struggled there,” Allred said. “When we’re all on the same page and pulling in the same direction, we’re pretty tough to beat.”

In the other Region 9 rematch Wednesday night, No. 6 Hurricane (22-7) will face No. 11 Snow Canyon (17-9).

The Tigers put together a strong season, finishing 9-3 to place third in Region 9. The Warriors were 6-6 in region play and in fourth place.

Hurricane swept Snow Canyon both times the teams met during the regular season.

Other Region 9 teams playing Wednesday in the first round at state include No. 16 Dixie (12-16) against No. 1 overall seed Orem (23-6) at 4 p.m.

No. 8 seed and second-place Region 9 finisher Cedar (17-10) takes on No. 9 Stansbury (21-7), also at 4 p.m.

4A girls state volleyball 1st-round playoff matches Oct. 21:

Snow Canyon 3, Murray 0

The Warriors were confident from the start and executed their motion offense with authority in the sweep over No. 22 Murray.

Snow Canyon’s Pa’alo Tupe retrieves a serve against Murray in a 4A girls state volleyball playoff match, St. George, Utah, Oct. 21, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

“I think the key was we really played together,” Snow Canyon junior Aubrey Olson told the St. George News. “We just played our game.”

With an appearance at the 4A state tournament on the line, Snow Canyon controlled the pace of play and kept the Spartans (6-22) in check with good serving and a strong net presence.

Snow Canyon raced to a 16-7 lead in the first set.

Fetuao Tapasa smashed a kill and Alyssa Staheli pushed the ball over the net for a point to put the Warriors comfortably ahead 18-7.

Pa’alo Tupe’s ace and Kate Johnson’s kill made it 20-8, then a kill by Anzlee Holt and a big block from Tupe won the first set 25-11 for the Warriors.

Tapasa opened the second set with an ace and Avery Thorkelson followed with two kills as the Warriors led 7-5. Thorkelson later served back-to-back aces to pad their lead to 13-7.

Tapasa kept up the pressure with another ace during a service run that put Snow Canyon up 18-8. Tupe’s ace and a hit out of bounds by the Spartans secured a 25-15 second set win for Snow Canyon.

The Warriors jumped to 7-1 and 13-4 leads in the third set. Hallie Woodhouse’s ace made it 18-5 for the home team.

Tupe served out the set win at 25-10 to complete the Snow Canyon sweep.

“We wanted it so bad. We just knew that we were going to put in whatever we had into it and just go and do our thing and play our best,” Olson said.

Olson said that Snow Canyon’s key at state will be to work together.

“We have the skills but mentally just being more into it and being there, then we’ll be good,” she said.

Dixie 3, Tooele 1

The Flyers recovered from a 21-25 first-set loss to the Buffaloes.

Dixie reeled off the next three sets 25-15, 25-23, 25-14 to advance to the next round. 

No. 17 Tooele (9-13) surprised the home team with the first-set win but Dixie pulled it together to win convincingly.

Crimson Cliffs 3, Uintah 0

The Mustangs upset the No. 14 Utes in Vernal, taking the air out of the gym after a 28-26 first-set win.

Crimson added 25-16, 25-18 wins in the next two sets to complete the sweep.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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