4A state volleyball: Desert Hills finishes runner-up to Ridgeline for 2nd consecutive year

Written by E. George Goold
November 1, 2022

ST. GEORGE — The Desert Hills High School volleyball program is in good shape after finishing second at the 4A state championship tournament for the second consecutive season.

Members of the 4A state runner-up volleyball team from Desert Hills High School on From the Bleachers, St. George, Utah, Nov. 1, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

“It’s a testament to our kids, our program, the amount of time our kids spend working to get better,” Thunder coach Craig Allred told St. George News. “They play club, we do a lot of workouts in the offseason. ”

The Thunder followed a similar pattern over the past two seasons, developing a strong region record before going on to lose to back-to-back 4A state champion Ridgeline in the title match.

“I just was really excited for them at the end of the season. We had a couple of stumbling blocks through that second set of region,” Allred said. “It was just really fun to see the kids let their hair down and just play and go after it, and really finish the season playing our best volleyball. It was a fun deal.”

After posting a 10-2 mark in Region 10 for a second-place finish, the Thunder were seeded fifth going into the state tournament.

They started out with convincing wins over Pine View and Cedar last Friday at the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, sweeping both matches 3-0.

Then early Saturday morning the Thunder won the match of the tournament, a 3-2 triumph over No. 1 seed Sky View.

Desert Hills dropped the first set against the Bobcats 16-25, then rumbled back to take the second set 26-24 and won the third set 25-21. Sky View answered with a 22-25 fourth set win before the Thunder wrapped up the upset with a 15-11 fifth set victory.

“I never had a doubt in our team. We’re really close together,” sophomore Halle Heath said.

Both Heath and sophomore Brooklyn Robinson finished with nine kills for Desert Hills against Sky View. The Thunder were paced to the win by senior Saidey Spencer’s 14 kills and senior Anna Jenson’s 12 kills.

“We’re really positive with each other. I feel like we never had a doubt, even in the fifth set when it was super close,” Heath added. “I felt like we had that one, and it was really, really fun.”

“This year I think the big part of it is that we just love each other so much,” junior Tatum Gardner said. “So we were really able to come together as a team. I feel like the friendships we had before really helped us mesh on the court.”

Desert Hills volleyball coach Craig Allred with the 2nd place trophy at an appearance at From the Bleachers, St. George, Utah, Nov. 1, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

The Thunder ran into the buzzsaw that is Ridgeline and were in a closely fought first set with the Riverhawks before the defending champions seized control with their dominant outside hitters.

Ridgeline swept Desert Hills 25-21, 25-8, 25-16 in the championship match Saturday night.

“I thought we had our shot in the first set,” Allred said. “Really thought we could get that first one. You know how volleyball goes, get that one, put a little pressure on them, maybe they start feeling it a little bit.

“But they definitely outplayed us that day, and they’re very well-deserving state champs,” he added.

Gardner led the way for the Thunder against the Riverhawks with 13 assists.

“I think they just have a lot of height, honestly, and we don’t have a ton of that on our team,” Gardner said.

Her observation is reflected in the box score of the title match, which shows exactly one team block for Desert Hills in three sets. “They’re just bigger than us. And their hitting is phenomenal, honestly.”

The loss in the last match did not reflect the Thunder’s overall outstanding performance in back-to-back years. But it did highlight the success of the Desert Hills program as a whole, and the future is bright with several returning players next year including both Gardner and Heath.

“I know they’re super excited about it, chomping at the bit,” Allred said. “They’d love to get started right away. We’ll give them awhile off. But yeah, we’ve got a really solid group coming back.”

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, 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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