Lehi Sports
Pioneer girls volleyball splits opening matches
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The Lehi girls volleyball team opened the fall campaign with a close loss to a good Thunder squad followed by a sweep of the Titans at home.
“This was a solid start,” Coach Alise Bowles said. “We have lots to work on but we’re excited to see how we can improve after every match and progress through the season.”
Aug. 11: Westlake 3, Lehi 2
The Pioneers played a thrilling marathon match against the Thunder to get things started. They lost the first game 23-25 but won the next two 25-13, 25-22 to get the advantage, but the visitors rallied to take the fourth set 25-23 and went on to win the match by closing out the tiebreaker game 15-10.
Junior outside hitter Aliya Shewell led the Lehi effort with 16 kills, a team-high 18 digs and 27 serve-receives.
Sophomore middle blocker Laken Bell added 12 kills, four aces, three combined blocks and 14 digs while junior middle blocker Alea Tauai supplied 12 kills, two aces, 13 digs and 27 serve-receives. Junior middle blocker Lucy Lowe led in blocks with four combined and also had four kills.
Junior setter Aftyn Hurst served four aces and dug 13 times. Sophomore setter Pais Brems tallied 40 assists and also made 11 digs. Sophomore setter Isabel Garcia contributed 10 digs with seven serve-receives.
Aug. 13: Lehi 3, Olympus 0
The Titans put up some stiff resistance in the first couple of sets, but the Pioneers were able to hold on to finish the job with extra effort 25-22, 27-25, 25-16.
Shewell laid down 17 kills and two aces with three block-assists and nine serve-receives. Bell provided 14 kills with six digs and 15 serve-receives. Tauai registered seven kills with two aces, seven digs and nine serve-receives.
Hurst dug seven times and took 12 serve-receives. Brems again dished out 40 assists to go with two aces and six digs. Garcia added two aces, five digs and 11 serve-receives.
The Pioneers continue pre-region play this week. They visit Herriman on Tuesday (Aug. 18) and then host Copper Hills on Thursday (Aug. 20). Varsity contests are scheduled to begin around 6:30 p.m.
