High school volleyball: Top-ranked Bingham advances

OREM — Parity was the word of the day in the opening rounds of the 5A volleyball state tournament held at UVU on Friday.

Of the eight first-round matches, just three were decided in three games, and each of those involved a team ranked in the top five: Bingham, given the top ranking heading into the tourney, swept Northridge, No. 2 Lone Peak beat Viewmont and No. 5 Cottonwood downed West Jordan.

Three of the remaining five matchups were decided in four games, including a surprising Layton upset of fourth-ranked Brighton, and the last two went to five. The Alta Hawks nearly knocked No. 3 Davis into the consolation bracket with a rally in the fourth game but couldn't regain a lead in the fifth.

"We have bigger schools with more players. There is a lot of talent in every class, but in 5A, you don't have a whole lot of weak teams," said Layton coach Michelle Vimahi after leading her team past the Bengals, 25-23, 24-26, 25-20, 25-20. "In a lot of region play, teams have traded wins. It's anybody's game."

Sisters Mariah and Eliza Katoa starred for the Lancers in the first-round victory with 15 kills apiece, and they combined for 25 digs and seven blocks.

Taylorsville and Kearns each advanced to the quarterfinal round with four-game wins over Skyline and Hunter, respectively, and Pleasant Grove eked out a five-gamer against a higher-seeded Fremont squad.

Although Lone Peak coach Melissa Brewer and the Knights won both their first round and quarterfinal matches in three games apiece, first sweeping Viewmont and then Taylorsville, the coach agrees 5A has strength because of its numbers.

"5A has the biggest schools so they should have strong teams coming into the tournament," Brewer said. "There is depth in the regions so when they come in, their second-, third- and fourth-place teams are pretty strong, and that's why those matches go four and five games."

As close as the first batch of games was, the second set was just as lopsided. Seven of the eight matches were decided in just three games.

The most surprising of the second-round sweeps was the Pleasant Grove win over Cottonwood. After the Colts strolled through their first match and the Vikings eked out theirs, the 25-11, 25-23, 25-14 Viking victory was unexpected.

"It's just a matter of fighting," said head Pleasant Grove coach Jamie Schapper about her team's two upsets. "They came to battle with the teams that have dominated our state, and they want to show that they belong."