1A high school volleyball championship: Move to defense leads Panguitch to crown

OREM — Senior Shelby Taylor wasn't quite sure what to think when Panguitch volleyball coach Troy Norris asked her to move from outside hitter to libero this season.

"At first," said Taylor with a shrug, "I was like 'well, I like hitting, but digging is probably my favorite thing.' "

As it turned out, the move not only solidified the team's defense, it helped the top-ranked team's offense.

"I think the key to us being where we're at is Shelby," said Norris after the Bobcats earned a 25-23, 25-18, 25-22 win over region-rival Panguitch Saturday night for their second 1A state title in three years. "Her ability to keep the ball alive is big. With Kalani (Norris) out there, the ball just has to be up and she can do something with it."

Kalani Norris, Troy's daughter, led the Bobcats' offense with 26 kills and earned All-Tournament Team MVP. Taelyr Tebbs added 9 kills and Breanne Bateman finished with seven kills.

Taylor was key in digging the ball against Piute's prolific offense. The Bobcats' win Saturday night was their sixth over the second-ranked T-birds.

"It's not easy," said Coach Norris of facing Piute for the sixth time. "I did not want to play them at all. They're a good team in any classification, I think. To beat a great team like that six times says something about this team."

The Bobcats controlled the momentum of each set early and they really never allowed the T-birds to get rolling. The T-birds were led by senior middle blocker Amanda Bagley, 16 kills and seven blocks, and Kandice Gleave, 14 kills and one block. Shelby Millett added five kills and Chelsie Sylvester earned two solo blocks.

"I think they're good kids where it matters," said Piute coach Sherida Allen, who struggled to even be on the bench Saturday night as she suffered from a severe case of the flu. "We had other goals, aside from just winning — how we treat others; work hard. You can't call it a bad season. Not the ending we wanted, but it was a good year."

Panguitch has relied on Kalani Norris' hitting all season, but all of the Bobcats played well in this weekend's tournament.

"It's so fun to have your daughter on the team," said Norris. "I put a lot of weight on her shoulders and she came through, just like everyone else."

A large part of the Bobcat's recent success is that Anne Marie Norris, Troy's wife and Kalani's mom, has started a volleyball program that gets girls playing the game as early as fourth grade.