San Juan wins its volleyball tourney

BLANDING — The San Juan Broncos have a variety of teams at their Labor Day Invitational, but the result has always been the same.

For the last three years, San Juan has played a five-game match for the championship against Kirtland, N.M., a 3A-size school. This year was no exception as the Broncos won another thriller 25-22, 25-21, 21-25, 20-25, 16-14 Saturday afternoon.

"They're a good team," said Broncos head coach Cassy Moon. "Really good."

The Broncos tradition of hosting a Labor Day weekend tournament began when Moon was just trying to find preseason tournaments for the team.

After traveling across the state — and even Las Vegas — for several tournaments, Moon decided Blanding was as good a host city as any.

"I thought we could get about the same amount of competition from the teams around here," said the coach of the top-ranked Broncos. "Especially with the teams from New Mexico and Colorado."

The tournament also attracts some top 1A programs, including the second-place finisher at state the last three seasons. Monticello did well enough in pool play to earn a berth in the championship bracket Saturday afternoon. The Buckaroos lost in three games to Kirtland, N.M., a school that would be 3A in Utah.

"We played well today," said coach Tony Esplin after the 14-25, 15-25, 13-25 loss. "The first time we played them in pool play, we didn't do very well. They were too quick for us. But we struggled with passing today."

The Buckaroos had solid games from most players, but Mersadez Slade, sophomore setter and outside hitter, Kelly Meehan, senior setter, and Ashley Dowell, senior middle hitter, were standouts in the game against Kirtland.

San Juan earned a third meeting with Kirtland by sweeping Shiprock, N.M., 25-13, 25-16, 25-17.

Senior Shea Turk led the Broncos by serving so tough and consistently, she finished with eight aces and just two errors. Junior outside hitter Heather Meyer, last year's 2A MVP, played well at the net, putting down some hits that thrilled the crowd and her teammates.

"Shea is one of our best servers," said Moon. "They come fast and flat, and they float. Most floaters come slow so you have time to get under them, but her servers are fast."

Kirtland moved through pool play without losing a game in any of the matches it played, while San Juan lost just two games but won all its matches.

"They're a good team," she said, "really good."

Davis High also hosted its annual tournament this weekend. With two rounds of pool play, the championship round got under way Saturday afternoon.

Clearfield finished first with a win over Davis, 25-17, 25-21, while Mountain Crest defeated Mountain View, 25-12, 25-20.

Olympus finished fifth, Syracuse earned a sixth-place finish, and Davis JV was seventh with Cyprus in eighth place.

---

E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com