Lehi Sports
Pioneer girls volleyball earns two victories
Beky Beaton | Lehi Free Press
The Lehi girls volleyball team is coming off a rebuilding season under second-year Coach Alise Bowles. The Pioneers went 8-15 overall last fall and are looking to build on the progress they were able to make against tough opponents.
The Pioneers got their campaign started at home with a solid 25-20, 25-10, 25-17 victory over the Silverwolves. “This matchup was a great example of the hard work our girls have been putting in every day,” Bowles said. “As a team, we came out with purpose from the very beginning.”
Lehi opened with a 5-1 run including a pair of kills from sophomore outside hitter Aliya Shewell and an ace from senior outside hitter Annike LeBaron.
After that the teams exchanged points until the score was tied at 18-all. The Pioneers closed out the set with two aces from junior right side Leilani Uluilakepa, a pair of Shewell kills and a scoring putdown from freshman outside hitter Laken Bell.
The Pioneers made quick work of the second game, laying down seven aces and hitting .471. Riverton put up a bit more of a fight in the third set, with the scoring going back and forth. The Silverwolves were still within reach, trailing just 15-17 in the middle of the game.
From that point on, however, Lehi started to impose its will. Senior middle blocker Brooklyn Toone first served an ace. A bit later, Uluilakepa made a kill to take the score to 22-16. Riverton called a time out and got the next sideout, but that was as close as it got.
Shewell got a big kill to earn point 23, and a Riverton penalty point followed by a hitting error sealed the win for the Pioneers.
Shewell ended the night hitting .429 with 10 kills, four aces and 13 serve-receives. Uluilakepa had a big outing, posting six aces plus four kills hitting a .667. Toone chalked up seven kills hitting .600 with two aces and two blocks.
Junior setter Halle Bingham added six digs with 17 assists, while senior libero Kacie Ingersoll led the defense with eight digs and 15 serve-receives plus two aces. “This was a great start to our season, and we are excited for our next game,” Bowles said.
On the road, the Pioneers had seven kills, three aces and four total blocks to open the match with a 25-16 victory in the first set, following that with a decisive 25-13 result in the second game.
“In the third, we struggled with some timely errors and serve-receive,” Bowles said. “In the fourth set, we did better at the service line but still struggled to put the ball down and receive Alta’s serve.” The Hawks won these games 25-20, 25-22 to set up the tiebreaker.
“We won the coin toss going into the fifth set,” the coach continued. Lehi mounted a 6-1 run to start it and later pulled out in front 10-3.
“Then, when it seemed like errors would cost us the game, we were rallied by our senior leader Brooklyn Toone with two blocks and Aliya Shewell made a timely ace to take us to match point.” The Pioneers closed it out 15-12.
Shewell tallied 14 kills, with three block-assists, 11 digs and 27 serve-receives. LeBaron added 13 kills with five combined blocks, nine digs and 10 serve-receives. Bell registered eight kills hitting .350 on the night.
Sophomore libero Aftyn Hurst and senior libero Paige Wakumoto served four aces each along with 12 digs and 13 serve-receives plus 18 digs and 16 serve-receives, respectively. Toone had eight combined blocks. Senior setter Savannah Morehead dished out 21 assists Bingham adding 17.
Lehi has back-to-back matches this week as the Pioneers continue pre-region play. They will host Payson on Wednesday (Aug. 20) and will visit Copper Hills on Thursday (Aug. 21). Contests are scheduled to start around 6:30 p.m.
