Parowan Rams win 2A tournament, capture school’s 1st-ever volleyball state title

Written by Jeff Richards
November 1, 2022
Parowan's Bella Johnson (32) and Paige Felder (13) go up for a block against Kanab toward the end of the fourth and final set of the state 2A championship, Richfield, Utah, Oct. 29, 2022 | Photo courtesy of David Mineer Sr., St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — The Parowan Rams won the state 2A volleyball championship on Saturday night, defeating Kanab 3-1 in the championship match.

Parowan volleyball players hold aloft the state 2A championship trophy after defeating Kanab 3-1 in title match, Richfield, Utah, Oct. 29, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Parowan High Athletics, St. George News / Cedar City News

Playing at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield, the Rams dropped the first set to the Cowboys 23-25 but bounced back to take the next three sets, 25-16, 25-13, 25-13, and capture the school’s first-ever volleyball state title.

The Rams finished their season with a 29-1 overall record, their lone loss coming at Kanab on Oct. 11. 

The top-seeded Rams started the two-day tournament in Richfield on Friday with a first-round bye, followed by a 3-0 win over Beaver in the second round, 25-16, 25-12, 25-14.

That put Parowan in Friday night’s quarterfinals against No. 8 seed North Sevier. The Rams lost the first set but rebounded to win the match in four, 13-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-20.

In the semifinals on Saturday morning, Parowan faced the No. 13 South Sevier Rams, which had upset fourth-seeded Duchesne 3-1 the previous evening. Parowan rolled to a 3-0 sweep over the other Rams, 25-17, 25-5, 25-17.

That landed Parowan in the championship match against No. 2 seeded Kanab. The Cowboys had beaten Rowland Hall, Waterford and North Summit to earn a rematch with their Region 19 rivals in the title game.

The Cowboys started off strong against Parowan, taking the tightly contested first set, 25-23.

Parowan head coach Macey Yardley said she and her players weren’t too worried after dropping that first set to the only team that had beaten them all year.

“We kind of talked about (losing at Kanab on Oct. 11) being the best thing that happened for us, honestly,” Yardley told Cedar City News on Monday. “It … brought us back to earth a little bit. I mean, really, what it came down to (in the first set on Saturday) was that we just made a lot of errors, lots of service errors, attack errors … just errors all over the place.”

So they put their focus back on the basics, limiting errors and putting serves in the square, she said. 

“We knew we had the talent, the ability, the grit and the determination. We knew we had everything it took to beat them and to take state,” Yardley added. “But the only team that was standing in our way was ourselves. We just had to take care of the ball and limit our errors.”

Parowan volleyball players and coaches following the team’s state 2A championship victory, Richfield, Utah, Oct. 29, 2022 | Photo courtesy of David Mineer Sr., St. George News / Cedar City News

Sophomore outside hitter Paige Felder had a team-high 22 kills for the Rams, while fellow sophomore outside hitter Taylen Yardley, added 13 kills. Together, they accounted for 35 of the team’s 47 kills during the title match.

Over the four games of the state tournament, Felder recorded 73 kills, 14 aces, 42 digs and 10 assists, while Yardley added 35 kills, 53 digs and eight service aces.

Coach Yardley also mentioned the outstanding contributions of several other key players, including juniors Maddie Adams and Layni Williams.

“Maddie is our libero and was absolutely phenomenal over the weekend,” Yardley said. “She had 64 digs and seven aces during the tournament.”

Meanwhile, Williams finished the state tournament with 123 assists over four matches, her coach added.

“These girls that are my juniors have been playing at the varsity level since they were freshmen,” said Yardley, who is just wrapping up her fourth year as the Rams’ head coach.

Yardley said that she did expect her team to improve from last year, when the Rams were 6-18 overall and 0-10 in region play. But to finish first in both region and state with a near-perfect record was not something that was anticipated, she said.

“I did know that we had a lot of talent, but I did not think we would end up with a 29-1 record,” she said.

Yardley said the young Rams are losing just three seniors to graduation and will have almost their entire starting roster back next year.

State 2A champion Parowan volleyball players ride atop fire truck during celebratory parade, Parowan, Utah, Oct. 29, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Parowan High Athletics, St. George News / Cedar City News

The Rams were honored with a traditional fire truck parade from the freeway exit down Main Street to the high school late Saturday night after returning home from Richfield.

“Then, they did a little assembly today for them over at the elementary school,” Yardley added on Monday. “They ran through the halls and had the elementary kids cheering for them. That was probably my favorite.”

Meanwhile, Kanab, which had shared the Region 19 championship with Parowan (both teams had 9-1 region records), finished the season with an overall record of 25-6. 

Also this past weekend, two other Southern Utah teams made it to the finals of their respective state tournaments, although both ended up finishing in second place. In the 1A tournament staged at Richfield, the No. 2 seeded Panguitch Bobcats fell to top-seeded Rich in the title game on Saturday, 3-2. The match scores were 25-23, 25-20, 17-25, 14-25, 15-13 in favor of the Rebels.

And in the 4A tournament held at Utah Valley University in Orem, the Desert Hills Thunder lost the state championship match Saturday to the Ridgeline Riverhawks, who won in a three-set sweep, 25-21, 25-8, 25-16.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons and one granddaughter. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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