Lehi Sports
Pioneer girls volleyball splits pair
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The Lehi girls volleyball team won a non-league road match but fell to second-ranked and unbeaten Lone Peak in their first Region 3 contest last week. The team is now 6-2 on the season.
“Overall, we are dealing with adversity really well,” said Coach Alise Bowles. “We caught an injury bug early in the season. We have a few players who have been cleared that we will start bringing back into the lineup as we head into region play.
“Currently Aliya Shewell has put up consistent numbers, averaging a hitting percentage at .215. Isabel Garcia stepped into the role of libero when Aftyn Hurst was out with a concussion and averaged 2.7 digs per set.
“Laken Bell has been doing great things from the service line. She’s chalked up 27 service aces so far this season and is on track to surpass her record from last year.
“I am really proud of this team and how they are responding,” the coach said. “We have coined a phrase to be our overall theme this year of ‘Ride the Wave’ and they have started to really embody that statement as we continue to fight and grit out our games.
“We are excited to go into region play as we get more of our kids healthy again,” Bowles concluded.
Sept. 3: Lehi 3, Davis 1
The Pioneers got off to a slow start on the road against the Darts and dropped the first set 17-25, but regrouped after that to take the final three games 26-24, 25-21, 25-12.
Junior outside hitter Aliya Shewell led the effort with 16 kills, three aces, eight digs and 22 serve-receives. Sophomore middle blocker Laken Bell was also a major contributor with 15 kills, four aces, three block-assists and 15 digs. Junior middle blocker Alea Tauai laid down six kills.
Junior middle blocker Lucy Lowe added 12 kills and three block-assists. Sophomore setter Pais Brems served four aces and dealt 47 assists. Junior setter Aftyn Hurst dug 14 times and took 19 serve-receives. Sophomore setter Isabel Garcia supplied 13 serve-receives.
“We came out flat to start this game,” Bowles said. “Our hitters struggled to stay consistent and we had difficulty earning a sideout. In our first set numbers we hit 0 as a team and sided out at 50 percent.
“We had a conversation and said we need to be better teammates and focus on what I can do not what my teammate isn’t doing,” the coach continued. “Then they got a fire lit underneath them and started to play better.
“Lucy Lowe would have an enormous second set hitting .714, five kills on seven attempts and zero hitting errors. Combine that with five blocks as a team and that is a great response to dropping the opening set. After that it was just a flow state.
“In the fourth set we were extremely efficient,” Bowles said. “As a team we hit .458, sided out at 84 percent, had eight aces in that set alone and beat them 25-12.
“It’s a great response and I hope that they remember when the season gets tough that when they are playing for each other and looking to be a great teammate by doing the little things, they can do some cool things as a team,” she said.
Sept. 8: Lone Peak 3, Lehi 0
The Pioneers started poorly against the undefeated Knights at home. They recovered some poise in the middle of the first set but couldn’t quite catch up before Lone Peak secured the win 25-19 and went on to close out the sweep 25-14, 25-11.
Shewell had nine kills, seven digs and 16 serve-receives while Bell provided five kills and 24 serve-receives. Hurst recorded a team-high nine digs with 18 serve-receives. Brems made 17 assists. Freshman middle blocker Lennon Chase added two block-assists.
“In the opening set we struggled with errors,” Bowles said. “We started to find some rhythm but it was just a little too late and we ran out of time.
“We had some uncharacteristic serving errors from a few of our players who are usually good for an ace or two each set and they had more serving errors than usual,” the coach went on. “Our hitting wasn’t great as a whole team because we struggled from the passing line.
“We did find a groove late in the set, we just didn’t have enough time to keep that groove going. In the second set we carried over the passing struggle which leads to hitting struggles. In the third set we had a little spark from Aliya Shewell with four kills on seven attempts, but it wouldn’t be enough.
“We ultimately beat ourselves with 34 unforced errors,” Bowles said. “We just can’t play competitive ball when we make that many. We are looking to focus on what we can control and how we can make some strides in the direction that we want to go. On to the next one.”
The Pioneers continue the Region 3 season on Thursday (Sept. 17) at American Fork and then will visit Skyridge on Tuesday (Sept. 22). Varsity contests are set to begin around 6:30 p.m.
