United effort: Randalls spending anniversary chasing Westlake state title dreams
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- Westlake boys volleyball coach Whitney Randall (right) reacts while her husband, Josh (seated to her left) keeps stats during the 6A state tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Friday, May 9, 2025.
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- Westlake’s Kalika Tafa (12) reacts during a second round state tournament matchup against American Fork at the UCCU Center in Orem on Friday, May 9, 2025.
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- Westlake’s Kyson Ryrie takes a swing against American Fork in a 6A boys volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center in Orem on Friday, May 9, 2025.
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- Westlake boys volleyball coach Whitney Randall (right) and her husband, assistant coach Josh Randall, discuss strategy during the 6A state tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Friday, May 9, 2025.
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- Westlake boys volleyball coach Whitney Randall, right, reacts during a 6A boys volleyballs state tournament match at the UCCU Center in Orem on Friday, May 9, 2025.
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- Lehi’s Dylan Avery (12) serves the ball in the 6A boys volleyball state tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Friday, May 9, 2025.
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- Lehi’s Landon Paxman (left) takes a swing during the 6A boys volleyball state tournament at the UCCU Center in Orem on Friday, May 9, 2025.
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- Westlake players celebrate scoring a point in a 6A boys volleyball state tournament match at the UCCU Center in Orem on Friday, May 9, 2025.
Some women want diamonds or a relaxing vacation to celebrate their anniversary.
Not Westlake’s Whitney Randall. She just wants more volleyball.
Randall is the boys volleyball coach for the Thunder and one of her assistants is her husband, Josh. Their players are giving them the anniversary gift that keeps on giving after winning two matches to open the 6A tournament on Friday at the UCCU Center.
No. 2 seed Westlake (24-5) swept a pair of Region 3 foes (No. 15 American Fork 26-24, 25-12, 25-18 in the second round and No. 7 Lone Peak 25-20, 25-17, 25-19 in the quarterfinals) to advance to Saturday’s semifinals against No. 3 Mountain Ridge (18-5).
“It’s actually our tenth wedding anniversary today,” Whitney Randall said. “I don’t want to go out to dinner tonight. I want to go out to dinner tomorrow night. So, yeah, that’s, that’s the plan. That’s what we want for our anniversary gift is a state championship.”
Whitney Randall is one of the athletic directors at Westlake and when the boys volleyball job opened up, she leaped at the opportunity. She and Josh Randall have coached club volleyball together for a number of years.
“You know, it’s interesting, because coaching with your spouse can be something that some people struggle with,” Whitney Randall said. “But we both just have a personality of learning and growth and that’s helped us.”
She said her husband is the analytics guy on the staff, which also includes former BYU volleyball player Phil Fuchs.
“Josh likes to look at the numbers of it,” Whitney Randall said. “I’m a very spirited coach and I like to get into it a little bit. He’s what I call the ‘collar puller,’ the one that goes, ‘Hey, coach, we need to settle down, we need to level our kids a bit.’ Our coaching staff has a very diverse personality set, so we’re able to match each other and work hard for each other that way.”
Josh Randall fully admits his wife is the better player — “She played in college (USU Eastern) and I’m a rec player,” he said — but their dynamic as coaches works pretty well: The Thunder have won 14 straight matches since March 29.
Friday’s quarterfinal win against Lone Peak was the third time they’ve beaten the Knights this season. The two teams spent much of Friday’s match tied or within a few points of each other before Westlake would find its groove and start to pull away. The Randalls lauded sophomore middle blocker Thomas Wood, who had four blocks, junior outside hitter Kyson Ryrie, who contributed six kills and two aces and leading hitter Kalika Tafa, who finished with nine kills.
“I feel like we’re playing great,” Tafa said. “High intensity and high energy. Everything is just clicking for us. Our key is just sticking to our game plan. Our coach tells us to go for it, to be intense but be mindful and stay as aggressive as possible.”
No. 4 Lehi (18-4) became the second Region 3 team to make the semifinals, defeating No. 13 Pleasant Grove in a sweep (25-23, 26-24, 25-17) in the second round and No. 5 Herriman 3-1 (25-23, 16-25, 25-23, 25-19) in the quarterfinals.
“We knew coming in we were going to have tough games,” Lehi coach Kolby Shewell said. “The boys showed up and they played hard. We cut down on the errors and we were able to run our offense. I was really proud of the way they played today.”
After splitting the first two sets (and getting routed in the second) the Pioneers found themselves in a very competitive third set. Tied at 23, senior opposite hitter Ian Wilson managed an out-of-system kill to get to set point and senior middle Taite Stewart scored on a tip for the 25-23 victory.
“I think the key was our mental toughness,” Shewell said. “We’ve been really focusing on that all season. We were down two to PG and we fought back and ended up winning. We’ve just been focusing on staying strong and moving on to the next play. We were able to do that and pull out that third set, which really gave us the momentum.”
Lehi went on a 5-0 run midway through the fourth set to push out to a 17-10 lead and sophomore outside hitter Ashton Shewell (13 kills) brought the Pioneers home, smashing three straight kills for the 25-19 victory and the match.
Senior opposite Dylan Avery contributed 11 kills for Lehi, which takes on No. 1 seed Bingham in the semifinals on Saturday.
“I love the matchup,” Coach Shewell said. “That is such a good team. I know them from club and it’s a good group of boys. We’re going to have to play our best to play with the best. Anybody can win out the the last four (in the semifinals) so you’ve got to bring it.”
No. 12 Skyridge, which lost a heartbreaking five-set match to No. 5 Herriman in the second round, rebounded with a 2-0 win (25-22, 25-20) against Pleasant Grove in the consolation round. The Falcons will play No. 8 Davis on Saturday with the winner moving on to play for sixth place. Lone Peak will take on Riverton for the right to play for fifth.
Class 5A Tournament
The evening session on Friday belonged to Class 5A, where No. 1 seed Maple Mountain (26-1) is a heavy favorite to repeat as state champions. The Golden Eagles had no trouble in the second round, sweeping No. 17 Taylorsville 25-10, 25-20, 25-7. Senior Trey Thornton, who has signed with BYU, had eight kills. Maple Mountain was to meet No. 9 Salem Hills, a 3-1 winner (25-20, 30-28, 28-26, 25-22) against No. 8 Brighton, in the quarterfinal round.
No. 13 Spanish Fork pushed No. 4 Alta to the brink but the Hawks survived their five-set second round match, winning 25-22, 25-27, 25-20, 24-26, 15-11.
Late second round matches on Friday included No. 10 Springville against No. 7 Cedar Valley and No. 14 Olympus vs. No. 3 Wasatch.
