4A Girls Volleyball: Orem sweeps Green Canyon for first title in 42 years
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- Orem players celebrate after winning the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem coaches and players rush onto the floor of the UCCU Center after winning the 4A girls volleyball championship with a 3-0 sweep of Green Canyon on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem players pose for a photo with the title trophy after winning the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem players celebrate after winning the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem sophomore Sophie Campbell (24) holds the 4A girls volleyball state championship trophy aloft while celebrating with her teammates after beating Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem junior Kambri Kuhni hits the ball during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem senior Sami Blackett dives for the ball during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem sophomore Sarah Page sets the ball during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem coaches and players rush onto the floor of the UCCU Center after winning the 4A girls volleyball championship with a 3-0 sweep of Green Canyon on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem players celebrate an ace during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem senior Sami Blackett, center, celebrates with her teammates after winning the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem senior Addison Penrod (9) and junior Kambri Kuhni go up for a block during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem players rush onto the floor of the UCCU Center after winning the 4A girls volleyball championship with a 3-0 sweep of Green Canyon on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem junior Sophie Campbell hits the ball during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem junior Sophie Campbell sets the ball during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem players pose for a photo with their supporters after winning the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem freshman Haven Michaelis hits the ball during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem head coach Bill Sefita directs his team during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem junior Kambri Kuhni hits the ball during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem players stand for the national anthem before the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem sophomore Ashley Scott serves the ball during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem players (from left) Alana Kennerly, Reyn Fuller and Lynzee Van Buren cheer on their team during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem players celebrate with senior Sami Blackett (13) after she got a block during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem sophomore Scarlett Page (6) talks to a teammate during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem head coach Bill Sefita celebrates with his players after winning the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem players rush onto the floor of the UCCU Center after winning the 4A girls volleyball championship with a 3-0 sweep of Green Canyon on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem junior Kambri Kuhni hits the ball during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem players rush onto the floor of the UCCU Center after winning the 4A girls volleyball championship with a 3-0 sweep of Green Canyon on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem senior Sami Blackett serves the ball during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem senior Ava Napierski (10) celebrates scoring a point during the 4A state championship match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem’s Reyn Fuller, 12, Lynzee Van Buren (14) and Masey Allred (7) greet a teammate on the bench during a 4A girls volleyball state tournament match against Dixie at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
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- Players on the Mountain View bench celebrate a point during a 4A girls volleyball state tournament match against Cedar at the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Mountain View’s Elle Richardson (0) and Talia Quinn (8) celebrate a point during a 4A girls state tournament match against Cedar in the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Mountain View’s Elle Richardson sets the ball to a teammate during a match in the 4A girls volleyball state tournament against Cedar at the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct .26, 2023.
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- Mountain View’s Savanna Brotherson (7) and Elle Richardson (0) form a block against Cedar in a 4A girls volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Mountain View’s Keilani Wesley (13) takes a swing during a match against Cedar at the 4A girls volleyball state tournament in the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- From left, Mountain View’s Berkley Richards, Keilani Wesley and Savanna Brotherson prepare for a serve from Cedar at the 4A girls volleyball state tournament in the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Mountain View’s Ava Eudis, 15, and Berkley Richards, 18, jump to block an attack from Cedar during a 4A girls volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Mountain View’s Ava Eudis, right, takes a swing against Cedar in a 4A girls volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem’s Sarah Page (5) celebrates winning the girls volleyball 4A semifinals against Sky View at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- The Orem girls volleyball team celebrates a point during the 4A semifinals against Sky View at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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- Orem’s Sarah Page sets a teammate during the 4A girls volleyball semifinals against Sky View at the UCCU Center in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
Cool as a cucumber.
Hot as a firecracker.
It would seem the two are mutually exclusive, but the Orem girls volleyball team was both of those temperatures on Thursday night at the UCCU Center in Orem.
The top-seeded Tigers were dynamic from the first serve and swept past No. 2 Green Canyon (25-14, 25-12, 25-23) to claim the school’s first girls volleyball state championship since 1981.
“We were telling ourselves, ‘Stay as cool as a cucumber,'” said senior middle Ava Napierski, who also won a state title last season with Timpview. “Just relax and don’t fight it, and that’s what we did, you know? We got down in the third set and we just battled back. I’m so grateful. These girls are seriously just the most welcoming, they’re the best.”
The “hot as a firecracker” part started in the first set, when Orem simply served Green Canyon off the court. The Tigers had seven aces in the first set — four by sophomore setter Scarlett Page — and got the Wolves completely out of system, rolling to a stunning 25-14 win.
Orem (27-6) ended up with 14 aces in three sets.
“I told our girls to focus on our side of the court, don’t focus so much on their side,” Tigers coach Bill Sefita said. “We’ve just got to control the things we can can control, and one of those things is our serves.”
Napierski added, “Our servers, holy crud, they were killing it tonight, for sure.”
It was more of the same in Set 2, with Orem racing out to a 6-0 lead with two kills from senior Sami Blackett and an ace from sophomore setter Sarah Page setting the stage. Leading 14-10, the Tigers went on a 7-0 run for a 21-10 advantage and won 25-12 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Green Canyon (27-5) finally decided to join the party and Set 3 was much more competitive. At one point, the Wolves took a 10-7 lead and appeared to have some of the momentum.
“We just kind of said to each other, ‘We have to lock in. Nothing is going to be given to us,'” Blackett said. “We knew we had to play as a team. We’ve worked all season for this and the fact that we made it here, we didn’t want to let up and lose.”
Orem rallied to tie the set at 10-10 on a Napierski tip. The two teams went back and forth, last tied at 23-23 on consecutive Tigers hitting errors. Napierski blasted a kill out of the middle to get to championship point, and Green Canyon’s subsequent attack sailed long.
What happened next? Bedlam as the Tigers raced onto the floor to celebrate the state title.
“Holding it in was hard,” Napierski said. “We knew we had to play to the end so the game was going to be over, then we could all dogpile on the court together as a team with one heart.”
Sarah Page spread the ball around offensively but Blackett was her favorite target, collecting 12 kills while adding five aces and two block assists. Napierski contributed nine kills.
“Honestly, it felt like the energy and all the momentum was on our side for most of the time,” said Blackett, who will compete on the same floor in college playing for Utah Valley University next season. “We were good from the service line and super confident. I just think from the beginning of the game, we kind of knew the whole vibe was going to be good. You could feel that the team was all together and that we were going to win.”
The only volleyball banner in Tiger Fieldhouse is from 1981, but it will soon be joined by one from 2023.
“I told the girls that we’ve been working hard all year, prepping ourselves, and we had to push really hard towards the end,” Sefita said. “I told the seniors they could write their own history. That’s why they wanted to play really, really hard. It was time for us to take it. It feels good to know I’ll finally be able to get some sleep tonight.”
4A Semifinals
In the semifinals earlier in the day, Orem rebounded from a first set loss to No. 4 Sky View for a 3-1 win (28-30, 25-23, 25-15, 25-18).
The Tigers also lost the first set in Wednesday’s 3-2 quarterfinal victory against No. 8 Cedar.
“Yesterday taught us us a lot, that we had to fight back and we had to play as one,” Blackett said. “I think in the first set we were all kind of on different pages, but then we came together as a team. We really played well so that was a good match (vs. Cedar) to get ready for today.”
The Tigers cruised to wins in Sets 3 and 4 for the win, keeping Bobcats star Ryen Smith in check to move on to the finals.
“I think from yesterday we just kind of piggybacked off of the energy,” Sefita said. “We know we can move the ball around and our freshman, Haven (Michaelis) on the right side, we kind of get her going and we also utilized our middles, and that’s been an advantage for us.”
Other Results
No. 10 Mountain View, which won the state title in 2019 and finished second in 2020, 2021 and 2022, dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 2 Green Canyon on Wednesday in the quarterfinals (26-24, 18-25, 25-20, 25-21) to fall into the consolation bracket. The Bruins topped No. 6 Hurricane 3-1 (26-24, 27-25, 13-25, 25-21) to advance to the 5th place match against No. 8 Cedar. The two teams went to a fifth set, which the Reds dominated for a 3-2 victory (19-25, 25-20, 25-23, 13-25, 15-8). Mountain View played one of the toughest schedules in the state finishing in 7th place at the 4A tournament and posted an 18-18 record.
No. 12 Provo defeated No. 13 Payson 3-1 (25-17, 14-25, 25-21, 25-14) i consolation play on Wednesday and ended up in 8th place after sweeping No. 16 Dixie 3-0 (27-25, 25-8, 25-22) then losing to No. 7 Ridgeline 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-21) in the 6th place match on Thursday. The Bulldogs, under head coach Kaniela Kalama, improved from 7-15 last season to 16-18 in 2023.
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