Opinion
For the Lehi volleyball champs, it was all about brotherhood
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The Pioneers had plenty of opportunities during the 6A state volleyball title match to fold up their tents and go home.
Bingham was the defending state champion and led the Class 6A RPI rankings right up until Lehi overtook them on the final list. The programs were still only separated by a fraction of a point.
Each team was a region champion and undefeated at home, with just two match losses all season. Watching them during the tournament, they were clearly the best two teams in the classification, so it was fitting for them to meet in the final with everything on the line.
Partway through the first set, someone sitting near me in the stands leaned over and said, “This is going to be good.” An astute observation that turned out to be a prophecy.
The initial game was close all the way through, but the Miners closed it out as you would expect a returning champion to do, with an ace and two skillful hits that were returned out of bounds after the teams had been tied with three points to go.
The Pioneers hadn’t lost a first set since March, and in fact, they only dropped three games total in the seven weeks leading up to the tournament. This was one of the points when panic could have set in, but it didn’t. Instead, the players went to work.
In the second set, Lehi led by as many as six points in the early going, but Bingham rallied and the teams tied at 17, 18 and 19. This time, however, it was the Pioneers who prevailed as three different hitters made kills down the stretch to lift them to the victory.
When teams split the first two games, the third one often determines who wins the match. Lehi fell behind early this time and had to overcome several unlucky plays and close calls that went in the other team’s favor.
Despite all of that, the Pioneers managed to claw their way back to a tie at 23 points, but then the Miners sealed the win with two well-executed moves, a kill and a block.
Knowing how critical third sets are, this was another point when the Lehi players could have become discouraged as Bingham would now get two chances to secure the match and the title and they would be eliminated if they let up at all.
So what did they do? They became relentless, turning up their play and their competitive fire even higher. The teams traded scores early once again, but in the middle part of the game, the Pioneers scored nine straight points. It’s a streak you rarely see when teams are so evenly matched.
The attack was so overwhelming that the Miners pulled their best player partway through the stretch, presumably to rest him for a final push. They still managed to cut slightly into the deficit, but Lehi pocketed the win with 12 points to spare in a remarkable display of skill and determination.
That brought on the short-point tiebreaker final. The Pioneers initially scored four in a row with authority – kill, block, kill, ace – and from that point on, the outcome was never in doubt. Bingham didn’t give up, but they didn’t catch up either, and Lehi rolled on to the victory.
Interviewing several players after it was all over, there was one common thread in all of their comments: the connection between them.
When skill levels and other factors are basically even, what turns contenders into champions is most often team chemistry. When team members play for each other, they’re very hard to stop.
This Lehi team is a perfect case in point. The players even attempted to grow mustaches and tinted them and parts of their hair purple in a mark of solidarity.
In the end, this group just refused to be denied because the No. 1 priority from the very beginning was winning together.
That’s an approach and a mindset that no amount of strategy can defeat.
