Region 10 volleyball: Crimson Cliffs wins title, Desert Hills 2nd, Cedar 3rd as state tournament nears

Written by E. George Goold
October 19, 2022

ST. GEORGE — The Mustangs won the region, but they want more than that.

The Crimson Cliffs High School volleyball team defeated Snow Canyon 3-1 Tuesday night, completing the Region 10 slate with an 11-1 mark and an outright championship.

“To be honest, our goal has never been region, it’s always been state,” Mustangs coach Gabrielle Hasenbeck told St. George News after the win made their overall record 18-11.

“We took this as practice for state, and whatever the outcome was, was because we put it all on our practice,” she added. “That’s been our goal all season.”

Snow Canyon pulled out all the stops on senior night and played the Mustangs tough from the opening serve. 

Angie Georgopoulou crushed home a kill and the Warriors led 9-5 in the first set. The score was then knotted at 12, 14 and 15.

Crimson Cliffs’ Tehani Waters (2) hits against Snow Canyon in a Region 10 volleyball match, St. George, Utah, Oct. 18, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Crimson nursed a 3-point lead after a Riann Gines kill made it 21-18. Adah Elam and Callie Finlinson posted kills for Crimson before Snow Canyon’s Aubrey Olson won sideout at 24-20.

Fetuao Tapasa was a force at the net all night for Snow Canyon. Her two blocks got the Warriors as close as 24-23 before Hurst’s winner secured the first set for Crimson, 25-23.

Snow Canyon evened the match 1-1 after winning the second set. Avery Thorkelson had a dig and a kill as the Warriors jumped ahead 7-3. Another stuff at the net from Tapasa ended the set victory for the home team, 25-21.

The third set was tied at 4, 7 and 8 before Gines took over. The senior outside hitter was Crimson’s go-to on offense and she served a run of seven winners that put Crimson ahead for good at 17-10. 

Gines tipped a ball over for a point and also banged home the winning kill as the Mustangs took the third set 25-13.

The fourth and final set featured long rallies and fiercely contested points before Snow Canyon finally succumbed 25-19.

“This is a bonus and we are obviously excited to win the region,” Hasenbeck said. “It’s been an awesome season and it’s really awesome to see the girls get rewarded for all their hard efforts.”

The 4A state tournament is held over the course of two days, Oct. 28 and 29, at Utah Valley University in Orem. Seedings and tournament pairings will be released later this week.

And that’s the tournament the Mustangs, with an almost all-senior lineup, have been focusing on all year.

“I think it was a big motivating factor that this was their last opportunity to play in St. George,” Hasenbeck said. “But ultimately I think their main focus is just each other. They are by far the most awesome team I have ever coached. They’re so focused on what each other does and how they work together. They want to do everything together.”

Snow Canyon will head to the state tournament with a 6-6 mark in Region 10 (fourth place) and a 12-15 overall record.

Desert Hills 3, Dixie 1

Dixie hosts Desert Hills in a Region 10 volleyball match, St. George, Utah, Oct. 18, 2022 | Photo by Jacqui Knighton, St. George News

The Thunder, going into the night ranked ahead of Crimson Cliffs in RPI, handled Dixie on the road to complete its second-place Region 10 record at 10-2 and is 19-7 overall.

Desert Hills jumped ahead early, winning the first set 25-18 and the second set 25-19.

But Dixie fought back to claim the third set 25-19 before Desert Hills secured the match with a 25-17 tally in the fourth set.

Desert Hills was the 4A state runner-up last year, losing to defending champion Ridgeline in the title match.

Meanwhile, Dixie finished with a 6-16 overall mark and a 2-10 Region 10 record, good for sixth place.

Cedar 3, Pine View 1

The Reds capped off a strong campaign with a third-place finish in Region 10 (9-3) and a season record of 20-7.

Pine View took the first set at home, 25-23.

But then Cedar reeled off the next three set wins 25-16, 25-15, 26-24 for the match. 

Pine View finished last in the region with its mark of 1-11. The Panthers were 4-20 overall.

Hurricane was idle Tuesday night and finished fifth in Region 10 at 3-9, 10-14 overall.

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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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