MT. PLEASANT–The North Sanpete Lady Hawks volleyball team played two games last week which resulted in a win and a loss, dropping the Hawks from third to No. 5 in state rankings.

Juab

September 29 Lady Hawks traveled to Nephi to take on the Wasps. North Sanpete had already played Juab earlier in the season and were again able to dominate Juab in three sets. The first set started off a little slow but they finished it with a score of 25-20 for the Hawks.

After finding their momentum the dominated the final two sets, winning 25-16, and 25-15. With their impeccable defense, the Hawks eliminated Juab’s offense. Junior libero Jada Bailey racked up 12 digs and senior Graciee Christiansen added 11. The Hawks also had a decent offensive showing by junior Mekai Laupapa who landed nine kills followed by senior Melissa Ferre with seven

Union

October 1 the Lady Hawks hosted the Union Cougars. North Sanpete prepared all week for this match-up. The Cougars, returning state champions, are currently sitting at the number No. 1 in the state, and the Hawks were excited to take a chance at dethroning them. In their earlier meet-up with the Cougars, the Hawks held on for a five-set thriller. They hoped to provide the same competitiveness for this match, but small by North Sanpete allowed the Cougars to slip away with the match.

The teams were going point for point in the first set. However, North Sanpete committed hitting errors and some missed serves which resulted in a 22-25 set score for the Cougars. The Hawks took the floor in the second set hoping to focus in and eliminate errors. However, again the Hawks committed several hitting errors which resulted in another 22-25 win for the Cougars.

North Sanpete hoped for a replay of their first Cougar encounter, wanting to win the next two sets and force another five-set match. Again going point-for-point, North Sanpete had an impressive defensive show as junior Jada Bailey racked up 16 digs against the hard-hitting Cougars. Halee Pay, Alexis Hansen, and Jentry Rigby repeatedly blocked the Cougars, with Pay contributing two, Rigby contributing three, and Hansen adding five.

The Hawks lead 23-19 in the final set. It looked as if North Sanpete was going to win when, after a Cougar time-out, Union took the floor and scored six straight points to end the match 23-25 for the Cougars.

The North Sanpete was happy with the fight they put up, but overall disappointed with the loss. Junior Jada Bailey commented after the game that, “Even though we are happy with our effort and that we put up a fight, we need to eliminate our unforced errors to give ourselves a better chance to win.”

The Lady Hawks hosted South Sevier High School Wednesday and travel to Richfield this weekend for a varsity tournament.