Lehi Sports
Pioneer girls volleyball drops three in league
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The Lehi girls volleyball team put up a fight in spurts against their talent-rich Region 3 opponents but eventually bowed to all of them in straight sets. The Pioneers are 10-7 overall.
Sept. 16: American Fork 3, Lehi 0
The Pioneers competed well against the Cavemen in a close match, but the visitors were able to find the points when they most needed them to come away with a 25-20, 25-23, 25-21 win.
“This was a battle of exchanging points and who could make the least amount of mistakes,” said Coach Alise Bowles. “Set 1 we went up 12-8 with sophomore Aftyn Hurst ( L) at the service line.
“AF responded with their own little serving run and then we had an exchange of points back and forth. We found ourselves down 19-23 and got a quick sideout, but ultimately dropped the opening set,” the coach continued.
“In Set 2 we jumped out to a 10-6 lead with Aliya Shewell (So. OH) at the service line. After more points were exchanged, we still had the lead at 18-15. Then AF rallied and made some good plays to tie it at 19-19 and went on to win,” Bowles said.
Before the next game, the coaches challenged the girls to play for each other and lean on each other. “We had some uncharacteristic performances from some of our players in serve-receive during the earlier sets and just told them to play their game and be themselves,” the coach said.
In Set 3, the teams battled and exchanged points back and forth. Neither team allowed the other to go on a run of more than two points.
“At 14-13, AF missed a serve and Aliya’s serving took us up 16-13. AF rallied to retake the lead at 16-17. We found ourselves again at 19-23 and got a monster kill from Aliya,” Bowles said.
After a hitting error, the Cavemen made an in-system kill to bring on match point and then won on a freeball error.
“We are ready to get back into the gym and push ourselves to finish when we have leads,” the coach said. “We’re trying to teach that the score doesn’t matter but that we compete every point and keep it to mini-games of one point.
“Overall I’m very proud of these girls and what they have gone through,” Bowles said. “They are responding as a team through trials and adversity off the court and truly have each other’s backs. It’s the type of culture that I was hoping to build and the girls are choosing to buy in and do that.”
Shewell finished with 11 kills and a pair of aces, while freshman outside hitter Laken Bell posted nine kills and senior outside hitter Annika LeBaron added four to go with 11 serve-receives.
Senior libero Paige Wakumoto led in digs with 17 and in serve-receives with 26. Senior setter Savannah Morehead provided 17 assists and senior setter Brighton Lamb made eight assists.
Sept. 23: Corner Canyon 3, Lehi 0
After coming off that emotional contest and playing without their top hitter, the Pioneers next faced the No. 2 Chargers, who easily captured the first two sets 25-11, 25-12. Lehi put up a stiffer challenge in the third game, but Corner Canyon was able to prevail 25-20.
Bell was the kills leader with six and also served four aces. Senior middle blocker Brooklyn Toone added four kills while sophomore middle blocker Peyton Smith made three kills and two solo blocks.
Morehead had 10 assists. Paige Wakumoto tallied 20 serve-receives and Hurst took 18 serve-receives. Senior defensive specialist Elyse Wakumoto had nine serve-receives.
Sept. 25: Skyridge 3, Lehi 0
Next up for the undermanned Pioneers were the top-ranked and undefeated Falcons. As in the previous match, it took time for Lehi to figure out how to compete against an outstanding team and Skyridge won the day 25-12, 25-12, 25-21.
“We knew this game was going to be a challenge,” Bowles said. “We have had a number of injuries occur and some freak accidents happen. So, our objective was to go in and focus on our side of the net and what we can control.
“We needed to be more aggressive from the service line in the first two sets,” the coach went on. “Going into the third set, it was our objective to do that.
“Laken Bell and Leilani Uluilakepa (Jr. RS) did their jobs. Laken had three aces in a row with a total of four on the night. Lani didn’t have any aces, but we went on runs from her serve because it kept the opposing team out of system,” Bowles said.
Bell was the top hitter with eight kills and LeBaron added six plus 10 serve-receives. Paige Wakumoto led in digs with 18 and serve-receives with 19. Lamb dug 11 times and dished out nine assists. Hurst had 12 serve-receives and senior libero Kacie Ingersoll took 11 serve-receives.
“Overall, we know we can be more consistent, and we are just going to keep focusing on what we can control,” Bowles said. “We have more tough games coming up, so on to the next one.”
In the second round of Region 3 play, the Pioneers host Lone Peak on Tuesday (Sept. 30) and then visit American Fork next Tuesday (Oct. 7) at 6:30 p.m.
