No.2 Desert Hills takes down top seed Orem in 4A volleyball final
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- The Orem girls volleyball team gathers together in a huddle during the 4A state volleyball finals against Desert Hills on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
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- Orem’s Sarah Page holds up the 4A state runner-up trophy at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
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- Orem’s Sarah Page serves the ball against Desert Hills in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
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- Orem girls volleyball players congratulate Desert Hills after losing the 4A state final at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
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- Orem’s Haven Michaelis takes a swing against Desert Hills in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
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- Orem girls volleyball fans cheer during the 4A state finals against Desert Hills at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
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- Orem’s Sarah Page (5) and Nicole Webb throw up a block against Annie Gilmore of Desert Hills in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
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- Orem’s Haven Michaelis takes a swing against Desert Hills in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
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- Orem’s Haven Michaelis takes a swing against Desert Hills in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
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- Orem’s Reyn Fuller (12) tips the ball against Desert Hills in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
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- Orem girls volleyball fans cheer during the 4A state finals against Desert Hills at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
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- The Desert Hills girls volleyball team celebrates winning the 4A girls state championship while Orem players console each other at the UCCU Center on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
It was someone else’s night.
For the past three seasons, the Orem girls volleyball team has dominated Class 4A, winning back-to-back state championships and rolling to the No. 1 seed entering the 2025 tournament.
On Tuesday at the UCCU Center, No. 2 seed Desert Hills rode the hot hitting of Annie Gilmore and Presley Decker and played lockdown defense in a 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 19-25, 26-24) championship victory over the Tigers.
The Thunder claimed the first two sets in dominating fashion, then Orem took Set 3 and was one point away from winning the fourth to force a fifth set. But a couple of bad passes gave Desert Hills easy put aways at the net for a 25-24 lead. At match point, a Tiger swing went long and it was time for the Thunder to celebrate their first girls volleyball state title since 2012.
‘I always want to respect our opponent,” Orem head coach Bill Sefita said. “Kudos to Desert Hills for finding the flaws in our system. But I thought our girls did a really good job of bouncing back. We just focused on one point at a time and they played their hearts out.”
Desert Hills’ 20-8 record entering the tournament was a bit deceiving: The Thunder went undefeated (12-0) in Region 9, lost six matches to out-of-state competition and their other two losses were to 6A powerhouses Skyridge and Mountain Ridge.
Deseret Hills controlled the net and with Gilmore (20 kills) and Decker (17) efficiently finding holes in the Orem defense, won the first two sets handily. In Set 3, the Tigers got pin hitters Haven Michaelis and Madi Scott going, reaching a 13-9 lead on a Michaelis swing. Desert Hills roared back to take a 14-13 lead on an ace from Decker. Orem snuck out to a 21-19 advantage later in the set and closed on a 4-0 run with kills from Michaelis, Nicole Webb and Callie Eudis, finishing things off with a block for a 25-19 win.
Desert Hills led the fourth set 17-12 after a Decker block but Orem battled back and tied the score at 20-all. The score was tied at 21, 22, 23 and 24 before the Thunder pulled away late for the win.
“We can sit here and talk about all the thing we didn’t do but that goes against what I’ve been preaching to my girls,” Sefita said. “We can focus on what we did really well this season. We focused on the highlights of the season because at the end of the day, we want these girls to find passion in the sport. It’s a tough loss, but we want them to come back and still want to play volleyball.”
Michaelis, a junior, led the Tigers (28-4) with 18 kills and Scott, a sophomore, added 17.
Orem’s senior class, which includes twin sisters Sarah and Scarlett Page, Ashley Scott, Reyn Fuller and Alana Kennerly (joined by Timpanogos transfer Nicole Webb), posted an 83-14 record (86%) over the past three seasons in delivering state titles in 2023 and 2024.
“The seniors really turned around the program,” Sefita said. “You see the Page girls and the other seniors, even the ones that have been with us a short amount of time. Nobody looked at Orem three years ago and said, ‘I want my kiddo to be part of that program.’ Now, we’re turning heads. People are asking, ‘What’s going on at Orem? Why are kids going there?’ So give all the credit to the seniors, because they’re the ones that put in the work. I just come in every day and give them the tools and they execute on the court.”
