From Deseret News archives:
High school volleyball: Knights upset Vikings
The Vikings were a perfect 22-0 coming into their matchup against the Knights, including a pair of five-game wins over Lone Peak in the Rocky Mountain Classic and in Region 4 play at the Knights' home gym. But the dangerous prospects of taking on the No. 1 team in the state in its own gym didn't faze Lone Peak one bit as the team came out strong from the opening serve and stole the tough three-game sweep 26-24, 25-22, 25-22.
"I'm just really proud of my players. I think it shows there's more than one good team in Utah. We've earned ourselves some respect," said Lone Peak coach Deanna Meyer, who is now sporting more than 200 wins in her nine seasons as head coach of the Knights.
And that team shared the statistical achievements as teamwork was definitely a key in the Knights' victory. Setter Heather Hanneman ran the team with 27 assists, but she also filled up the stat sheet with 13 digs, four kills and three aces.
"We just wanted it so bad. We've worked so hard, and it showed on the court. This was a really good game. We wanted to take it in three," said Hanneman, who also noted the team's one-ball-at-a-time philosophy. Whether they'd just scored on a nice play or lost on a mistake, the Knights came back strong every single point. And they had to against the tough Pleasant Grove block and hitters.
Anna Burgess took the brunt of those rocketed hits as she recorded 44 creates, 24 digs and two service aces against the hitting demons on the other side of the net.
Offensively, it was a well-balanced effort with Ashlan Rogers leading the way with 10 kills, including a soft tapper to the back corner down the line on match point. Ashton Gray and Aubrey Muaina each added nine kills to the offensive effort.
And the block came out strong for both sides as Whitney Johnson and Coralie Jarema led the way for Lone Peak with three blocks each.
"Our blocks and digs created a lot of opportunities for us," added Meyer, who reiterated just how important it is for her team to play team ball.
The Knights proved just how badly they wanted the win with a huge run to start Game 1. Their biggest lead in the first game came at 19-10 on some tough play combined with a few Pleasant Grove errors. The Knights did allow Pleasant Grove to come back with four straight points on game point. But they finished it off with a Hanneman kill to give themselves the momentum.
In Game 2 the Knights also pushed themselves out to a nice lead, but the Vikings clawed their way back into it, saving one match point before Hanneman finished it off with one of her aces.
Game 3 was similar to the others, but the Vikings were able to keep a closer reign on the defending state champs and tied things up four times before slowing letting things slip away.
The Vikings, now 22-1 and in a tie with Lone Peak for the Region 4 lead at 6-1, were led by Brooke McAllister with a match-high 12 kills. Danica Mendivil added eight, and Jennifer Hamson finished with seven. Kim Dahl had a nice defensive effort with 2.5 blocks, but the team had a rough serving night, finishing with 13 service errors.
E-mail: jolsen@desnews.com
