LEHI — The Orem Tigers and Lehi Pioneers met on the volleyball court for the first time this year and for the first time as Region 7 foes.

Both teams are vying for the top of the heap in their region and both hope to make it deep into the 4A playoffs this season.

But the night belonged to Lehi as the Pioneers were led by the talents of team leader Miranda Parkinson, who slammed down a match-high 13 kills to give the Pioneers their 25-20, 25-18, 25-22 victory.

Parkinson is just starting to get her game back after suffering a severe ankle sprain to begin the season.

"She's just starting to get back to where she was. It hasn't kept her out but it did cut her mobility quite a bit," said Lehi coach Jamie Ingersoll..

And Ingersoll is happy her team leader is getting her mobility back after suffering some blows during the early season, especially in the Rocky Mountain Classic tournament last weekend.

"We played hard but made mistakes over the weekend. We were playing great teams, and what doesn't kill us makes us stronger," said Ingersoll after the weekend losses.

That philosophy showed up strong in their first match after the tournament defeats as the Pioneers didn't trail from the opening serve in Game 1 against the Tigers. They went on long runs to begin the match and again midway through to get a hefty 21-12 lead before the Tigers made a little comeback to tighten things up to the final game score.

Orem took a slim lead in Game 2, and the teams were tied five times before the Pioneers took off after a 13-13 deadlock and scored 11 of the next 14 points to again take a dominating lead before finishing things off.

And it wasn't all Miranda Parkinson to lead the Pioneers as freshman phenom BreElle Bailey pounded down nine kills of her own and looked dominating at times during the match.

"She's getting better every game. She's finding her niche and growing as a player," said Ingersoll, who noted that she has high hopes Bailey could prove to be a superstar type player in the near future.

In addition to admitting that she saw plenty of good offense from the Pioneers, Ingersoll was quick to point out the solid defensive effort by Aly White, who finished with 13 digs.

"We're also serving better than we have been this year," said Ingersoll, who was happy with her team's ability to keep focus even when down a little to start the third game.

She wasn't happy with the team's early 7-1 deficit in Game 3, but the girls kept their cool and got back into it with some key winning points and solid sideouts, one point at a time. After evening things up at 12, the Pioneers once again took control and didn't look back.

The Tigers were led by powerful junior Hannah Robison, who downed 10 kills in the match.

e-mail: jolsen@desnews.com