2A high school volleyball championship: Layton Christian finishes dream season with first title

OREM — When Joy Nakaishi wrote down team goals at the beginning of the season, even she, the coach with all the faith in the world in her players' abilities, never dreamed they'd make it through the season with only a single loss.

"I remember writing goals, and I wrote win the region," she said after the Eagles defeated South Summit 25-21, 25-16, 25-23 to earn the school's first volleyball state title Friday night at UVU's McKay Event Center. "And I wrote, for long-term goals, place higher in state."

Their original goal was to get past the second round of the 2A state volleyball tournament with a win. The Eagles not only got past that game, a thrilling victory over perennial power San Juan, they rolled over Region 14 rivals Waterford and South Summit on Friday to take home the gold trophy.

"This is amazing," said senior middle hitter and tournament MVP Jasmine Porter. "We didn't really think about it (the title) back then. We didn't care how many losses we had, it just mattered that we played our hardest."

That included a phenomenal performance by Porter, who earned 17 kills, 10 digs and 10 blocks in the championship match. Kritine Reddington, a senior rightside hitter, added eight kills and 11 digs. Sophomore middle Melina Bachtar had an impressive match with 14 kills, 10 digs, four blocks and two aces.

Emily Jessop added four kills and 14 digs, while Kilee Allred had six digs and two kills in the win.

"Everybody did their part," said Nakaishi. "They were way tough this year. We took it one game at a time and this is 23 straight wins."

The squad earned its 22nd win at 2 p.m. on court two in the semifinals.

"This is a great accomplishment for these girls," Nakaishi said. "They worked hard. They were committed. They'll go down in my mind as the greatest team I've coached. I've had good teams, but nothing like these girls."

The Eagles had to defeat a very defensive-minded South Summit squad to claim that title. The Wildcats were led by senior middle hitter Mckenzie Woolstenhume, junior Emily Kueser, senior Marci Jones and libero Megan Peterson.

"These seniors have had three coaches in the last three years, so for them to come this far and show that they believe in the program and believe in themselves has truly been an amazing thing that has brought our whole community together."

Second place might be a disappointment to some teams, but for South Summit it was a sign that a new era really is dawning for the Wildcats.