Lehi Sports
Shewell named top volleyball player
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
Lehi junior outside hitter Ashton Shewell received the 2026 Mr. Volleyball award as the state’s best player in this sport at the Deseret News annual athletic honors banquet on Monday night (June 8) at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City.
Shewell led the Pioneers to the 6A state title this year. He ranked first in the state in kills with 511 (5.4 per set) and was fifth in the state in hitting percentage at 0.416 on a team with multiple offensive threats. In March he became the first boy in Utah volleyball history to surpass 1,000 career kills.
However, Shewell’s contributions on the court went much farther than that. He served 29 aces and tallied 182 service points; he made 53 combined blocks, 33 of them solo; his 264 digs ranked 29th in the state; and he also amassed 534 serve-receives for a remarkable average of 19.1 per match.
In his sophomore season, Shewell was one of the architects of Lehi’s stunning turnaround, with the Pioneers going from a 5-17 record in 2024 to a 19-5 mark and a third-place finish in the 6A state tournament in 2025.
His 394 kills ranked second in 6A and fourth in the state for an average of 4.7 per set. He served 30 aces and tallied 129 points, 26 combined blocks, 187 digs and 467 serve-receives in that campaign. He was named to the All-State First Team and also to the Deseret News Ultimate 6 squad.
Although Lehi suffered through a season of near misses in the inaugural year for boys volleyball in 2024, Shewell still made his mark as a freshman.
He was the top hitter in the state during the regular season and finished third overall with 412 kills averaging 5.2 per set. In addition, he made 23 aces and 25 solo blocks plus averaged an astounding 7.3 serve-receptions per set with 579 total. He received recognition on the All-State Second Team.
Shewell is not only a versatile volleyball player, but he’s been a key member of the basketball team as well, earning First Team All-State accolades this year and Honorable Mention as a sophomore.
The best news of all for Pioneer fans is they’ll get to watch him one more year as his senior season is still to come.
