Lehi Sports
Falcon boys volleyball claims third place at State
The strength of ultracompetitive Region 3 boys volleyball was on full display during the 6A state tournament last weekend. Despite having lower seeds because of beating up on each other, league teams swept the top three spots, with the Falcons finishing a strong third.
Skyridge ended the league season at 5-5 in fourth place and received a No. 9 seed in the final RPI. The Falcons easily topped No. 8 Davis in the second round and then shocked No. 1 Herriman in the quarterfinals.
They fell to No. 5 Lone Peak in the semis but finished third after beating No. 7 Syracuse in the placement game. No. 3 Pleasant Grove won the title after beating the Knights in a thriller. Skyridge defeated the Vikings in both region matches but did not play them in the tournament.
The Falcons ended the season with a 15-10 record overall.
April 23: Skyridge 3, Pleasant Grove 1
The Falcons dropped the first set against the Vikings at homebut won the next three to prevail 23-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-20.
Junior right side Marcus Reittinger led the attack with 14 kills. Senior outside hitter Franky Fainga had a superlative outing with 13 kills, five aces, two solo blocks, nine digs and 26 serve-receives while junior setter Devin Willits added seven kills with 37 assists.
Sophomore libero Fihi Fainga had 13 digs and made 20 serve-receives and senior setter Wyatt Muir had 12 digs. Junior libero Clay Warner took 11 serve-receives.
April 25: Westlake 3, Skyridge 0
The Falcons outhit the Thunder but couldn’t get the points they needed at the right time as the home squad registered a 25-16, 25-23, 25-22 sweep.
Franky Fainga laid down 19 kills and had 19 serve-receives in the match. Reittinger had six kills. Fihi Fainga tallied 15 digs and 28 serve-receives. Willits made 29 assists.
April 30: American Fork 3, Skyridge 0
On the road, the Falcons lost a hard-fought, extra-time match by just a handful of points as the Cavemen won 30-28, 25-22, 28-26.
Franky Fainga led the effort with 19 kills, three solo blocks, 16 digs and 19 serve-receives. Reittinger added 12 kills and Fihi Fainga served two aces with 19 digs and 15 serve-receives. Warner tallied 12 digs with 26 serve-receives and Willits had 33 assists.
May 2: Lehi 3, Skyridge 2
At home. the Falcons won the first two sets by identical scores of 25-20, but the Pioneers then won three straight 25-23, 25-22, 15-11 to close out the victory.
Eight players made kills in the match, led by Franky Fainga who hammered 25 of them along with five aces, three solo blocks, eight digs and 23 serve-receives. Reittinger added 17 kills while Fihi Fainga made 23 digs and 35 serve-receives. Willits had 48 assists.
May 7: Lone Peak 3, Skyridge 2
In a back-and-forth thriller on the road, the Knights won the day 18-25, 25-15, 16-25, 30-28, 15-12. Franky Fainga had 24 kills, three aces, 13 digs and 29 serve-receives in the effort. Senior middle blocker Isaac Leavitt added 16 kills and senior outside hitter Dylan Nielson added nine.
Warner had a big night with four aces, 22 digs and 34 serve-receives. Willits added three kills, a pair of aces and a staggering 51 assists. Fihi Fainga had 17 serve-receives, Muir had 15 digs and sophomore middle blocker Trey Mahe had three solo blocks.
May 16: Skyridge 3, Davis 1
The Falcons survived a couple of tight sets as they started the playoffs at UVU after a bye in the first round. The Darts took the first game 25-18, but Skyridge eliminated them with a following 32-30, 25-13, 27-25 effort.
Team leader Franky Fainga was on a mission in this one, contributing 26 kills, six aces, three solo blocks, 17 digs and 29 serve-receives in a spectacular outing.
Leavitt added 16 kills and two solo blocks and senior outside hitter Shane Watts made 10 kills. Willits made 17 digs and 59 assists. Warner had 19 digs and 33 serve-receives. Muir made 15 digs.
May 16: Skyridge 3, Herriman 1
The quarterfinal opponent was the top-seeded Mustangs, who narrowly won the extra-point first set 27-25 but fell to the Falcons in three straight games after that 28-26, 25-19, 25-22. Franky Fainga and Leavitt were an effective one-two punch at the net with 24 and 17 kills, respectively.
Franky also had three aces, four solo blocks, 12 digs and 13 serve-receives. Warner made 29 digs and 46 serve-receives in a busy outing for him. The versatile Willits added two aces, five blocks, 13 digs and 51 assists.
May 18: Lone Peak 3, Skyridge 1
The Falcons were once again oh-so-close to toppling the Knights, but they hung on to pull out a 26-24, 25-23, 22-25, 25-19 victory.
Franky Fainga tallied 16 kills, 15 digs and 19 serve-receiveswhile Reittinger had 14 kills. Warner managed 19 digs with 30 serve-receives and Fihi Fainga made 18 digs with 13 serve-receives. Willits had 41 assists and Muir 12 digs.
May 18: Skyridge 2, Syracuse 1
In the tournament format, consolation games go to a best-of-three arrangement, so the Falcons just needed two wins over the Titans to earn third place 25-21, 16-25, 25-23.
Franky Fainga shared the court with a lot of players during the final match of his impressive season but still finished with a flourish of 21 kills and 14 digs. Reittinger added nine kills and Warner had 10 digs with 29 serve-receives. Willits posted 16 digs and 38 assists.
