4A Volleyball: Top-seed Orem advances to semifinals with five-set win over Cedar
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- Orem freshman Haven Michaelis takes a swing 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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- Orem’s Alana Kennerly, 15, greets teammate Ashley Scott during a time out at the 4A girls volleyball tournament in the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
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- Orem’s Sami Blackett takes a swing out of the back row 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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- The Orem girls volleyball team celebrates a point during a 4A second round state tournament match against Dixie at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
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- Orem’s Sarah Page sets the ball to a teammate 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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- Orem’s Sami Blackett takes a swing against Dixie in a 4A girls volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
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- Orem’s Sami Blackett serves an ace 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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- 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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- Mountain View girls volleyball coach Dave Neeley watches the action during a 4A second round state tournament match against Ridgeline at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
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- Former Mountain View girls volleyball coach Jaicee Roden, now at Ridgeline, coaches against the Bruins in the second round of the 4A state tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
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- Mountain View’s Kelly Wesley takes a swing during a second round 4A state tournament match against Ridgeline at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
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- The Mountain View girls volleyball team celebrates a point during a second round 4A state volleyball match against Ridgeline on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
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- Mountain View’s Kelly Wesley tools her shot off the Ridgeline block during a 4A girls volleyball second round state tournament match at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
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- Mountain View’s Savanna Brotherson serves against Ridgeline in a 4A girls volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
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- The Mountain View girls volleyball celebrates an ace serve during a 4A second round state tournament match against Ridgeline at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
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- The Mountain View student section cheers during a 4A girls volleyball state tournament match against Ridgeline at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
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- The Mountain View girls volleyball team celebrates a point during a 4A second round state tournament match against Ridgeline at the UCCU Center in Orem on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
When Mountain View upset top-ranked Orem in five sets last week, it ended an 11-match win streak for the Tigers.
It had to be a wake-up call for Orem.
The No. 1 seed Tigers needed a wake-up call in the 4A quarterfinals at the UCCU Center on Wednesday as well, losing 24-11 in the third set to No. 8 Cedar to fall behind 2-1 in the match and faced elimination in Set 4. Orem trailed 10-7 in the fourth set but came back to win 25-18, then won a tense Set 5 for the 3-2 victory (19-25, 25-20, 11-25, 25-18, 15-13).
“When the pressure is on our back, I think that’s one of the things we’ve always struggled with,” Tigers coach Bill Sefita said. “But I think this just proved that we can actually perform under pressure. You’ve just got to have some fire.”
In the fifth set, leading hitter Sami Blackett had three straight kills to push the Orem lead to 11-7. But as it did all match, Cedar roared back into the set and tied things at 12 on a Tigers hitting error. A Cedar service error gave Orem a 13-12 edge then Ava Napierski dropped down a kill for a 14-12 lead and match point. The Reds fought off one set point, but freshman Haven Michaelis took the swing for the game winner and it landed in play for the match.
“There are some things we’ll talk about and kind of iron out but overall, I think they played really well,” Sefita said. “One of the things we’ve been working on in practice is figuring the leadership from the seniors, how they can take control in the huddle. The good thing is I’m a social worker so I tend to ask a lot of questions, to kind of get them motivated to talk a little bit more. I think our seniors have been doing a good job.”
Earlier in the day, the Tigers flew past No. 16 Dixie 3-0 (25-8, 25-12, 25-14) in the second round.
Orem (25-6) will face No. 4 seed Sky View (22-7) in the semifinals. The Bobcats defeated No. 5 Park City 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-15) in a quarterfinal matchup.
“I don’t think we’ve made it to the semifinals in a while,” Sefita said. “So this will be a good track record. I’m so excited.”
The Tigers last made the semifinals in 2010 and won it’s only girls volleyball state championship in 1981.
Mountain View moves on
No. 10 seed Mountain View opened the tournament with an interesting matchup against No. 7 Ridgeline and former coach Jaicee Roden, who led the Bruins to a state title in 2019.
This meeting went to Mountain View 3-1 (25-16, 14-25, 25-16, 25-17) behind 21 kills from senior Kelly Wesley, to move the Bruins to the quarterfinals.
“I don’t think anyone on this floor today is going to have a better match than Kelly Wesley,” Mountain View coach Dave Neeley said. “She had just one error and a hitting percentage of .588. Then we had 24 aces, that’s like an entire set worth of aces. We felt confident about our serving coming into the match. Elle Richardson had 7 and Ally Cornwell had 8.”
Mountain View has been on a tear recently, knocking off top-seed Orem last week to secure a co-Region 8 championship.
“After we lost to Corner Canyon (in the preseason) and were fell to 0-2, I told my assistants that at some point, and I didn’t know when it would be, we were going to look at each other and say, ‘We’re clicking,'” Neeley said. “We’re clicking and we’re playing really good volleyball right now. And that has been the past ten days.”
Mountain View (17-16) will take on No. 2 seed Green Canyon (25-4) from Region 11 in one of the late quarterfinal matchups. The Wolves swept No. 18 seed Mountain Crest (25-18, 25-18, 25-15) in the second round.
“There were seven teams entering this tournament that could win the whole thing,” Neeley said. “That team that wins it is going to be the team that plays four good matches in a row.”
The Bruins couldn’t pull off that feat, however, succumbing to Green Canyon in four sets (26-24, 18-25, 25-20, 25-21) to drop into the consolation bracket. Mountain View, which finished as the 5A runner-up the past three seasons, will play No. 6 Hurricane on Thursday. The winner of that match will advance to the 5th-7th place contest.
Other local results
No. 13 seed Payson lost to No. 4 Sky View 3-1 (25-16, 18-25, 25-16, 25-21) to fall into the consolation bracket. No. 12 Provo took a set from No. 5 Park City but ended up losing 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-15, 25-11).
The two Region 8 foes played each other for the right to move on in consolation play and the Bulldogs earned a 3-1 win (25-17, 14-25, 25-21, 25-14). Provo (15-14) will take on No. 16 Dixie on Thursday with the winner moving on to play in the 6th-8th place match.
