High school volleyball: Red Devils win, claim No. 2 seed

SPRINGVILLE — The Springville Red Devils held onto one of their biggest goals coming into the season after defeating the Mountain View Bruins, 25-20, 25-18, 25-22.

After the victory, Springville claimed sole possession of second place in Region 7 with a 10-2 record and dropped the Bruins, who had taken an earlier match against them, to 8-4 and a third place finish heading into the state tournament.

The second-place finish successfully kept the Red Devils from having to face Dixie in the first round of the tournament and placed the Flyers directly in Mountain View's path.

"We wanted a better seed this year," said Springville coach Wade Taylor, noting that his team's rough finish last year led to a difficult first round at state, which the team lost. This year he's hoping a better seed will give them different results.

Another thing he thinks will help his team improve on last year's eighth-place finish at the state tournament is a much more confident and relaxed approach.

"Our team is much more relaxed compared to last year, and I think they come back from minor setbacks with much more confidence," said Taylor about his much higher hopes this season.

The match against Mountain View was tight in Game 1 as neither team held more than a four-point lead all through that game until game point. The two teams battled through six ties and five lead changes before the Red Devils took control down the stretch after the teams were tied at 18 apiece.

From there, the Bruins seemed to lose a little swagger, and the Red Devils notched their play up a level, especially on the defensive front.

"We worked hard with Miranda Littlefield and Kelsie Ainge to prepare for Chelsey Schofield. She hits well, but they worked their hearts out and picked up everything," said Taylor, who noted what a scrappy team the Bruins are with sophomore Schofield picking up 12 kills and two aces on the night.

Springville's Lindsey Barker led all spikers with 15 kills, and she passed well in addition to picking up three service aces. Miranda Littleton served up 19 points with a pair of aces and had 15 digs in the match. And backup setter Nicole Barton, who has only been playing in the last four games for the Red Devils, added a pair of aces on 24 service points.

Taylor Steed also came up big at the net for the Red Devils with three blocks in addition to her trio of kills.

The Bruins had a strong service night behind the tough arm of Heather Glassford, who pounded out seven aces for Mountain View.

The Red Devils took large leads in each of the final two games with the Bruins making valiant comebacks in both, only to find themselves on the short end when the match was over in three.

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