Fun and games: Orem tops Mountain View in key Region 8 girls volleyball matchup
-
- Orem’s Sarah Page sets the ball during a girls high school volleyball match against Mountain View on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
-
- Orem players celebrate a point during a high school girls volleyball match at Mountain View on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
-
- Mountain View’s Elle Richardson serves the ball against Orem in a high school girls volleyball match on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
-
- Orem’s Ashley Scott prepares to serve as head coach Bill Sefita looks on in a high school girls volleyball match on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
-
- From left to right, Orem’s Reyn Fuller, Madi Scott and Haven Michaelis prepare for a serve from Mountain View on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
-
- Orem’s Sarah Page sets the ball during a girls high school volleyball match against Mountain View on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
-
- Orem’s Reyn Fuller takes a swing in a girls high school volleyball match against Mountain View on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
-
- Mountain View’s Mehani Suguturaga prepares to swing in a high school girls volleyball match against Orem on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
-
- Mountain View players celebrate a point during a high school girls volleyball match against Orem on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
-
- Orem’s Nicole Webb prepares for play in a high school girls volleyball match against Mountain View on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
-
- Orem’s Madi Scott (3) tips the ball over the Mountain View block in a high school girls volleyball match on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
-
- Mountain View students and cheerleaders react during a high school girls volleyball match against Orem on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
-
- Orem’s Scarlett Page serves the ball against Mountain View in a high school girls volleyball match on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
Tuesday night at Mountain View, the Bruins faced off with city rival Orem in girls volleyball. It was a packed gym for an important match between the No. 1 (Orem) and No. 3 (Mountain View) RPI teams in Class 4A.
The stakes were high.
But sometimes, volleyball is a funny game.
With the match tied at one set apiece, Mountain View’s Keilani Wesley launched a powerful kill that bounced off the head of Orem’s Ashley Scott straight up into the air. It was a perfect dig and play continued. Orem got the point and both sides got a good laugh out of the incident.
It was a moment to remind everyone in the gym that good volleyball can be fun.
“Way to use your head,” Tigers head coach Bill Sefita told Scott after the game.
Orem managed to survive Mountain View’s hot start and finished with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-22) victory, turning the match with a strong blocking game and steady play.
“Obviously, there’s such a thing as having too much fun and goofing off,” Orem senior setter Sarah Page said. “In order to have fun, you do what you’re supposed to do. You win and you hustle. When you hustle, you have fun. That’s how I have fun.”
Set 1 was tied at 14 when Mountain View made its move. Elle Richardson logged a block and followed that with an ace serve, then Wesley pounded a kill for a 22-18 lead. An Orem hitting error gave the Bruins set point at 24-20 but the Tigers rallied and closed to within 24-22 on a Haven Michaelis kill. Wesley tooled her shot off the Orem block for the 25-22 win.
Mountain View rode that momentum and led 13-8 in Set 2 on a kill from Jaycee Carlson. Orem fought its way back behind a ace from Callie Eudis and a dump attack by Sarah Page, eventually taking a 16-13 advantage. The Tigers took a 21-16 lead after a block from Reyn Fuller and Madi Scott scored the final two points for a 25-19 victory to even the match at 1-1.
Orem controlled Set 3 and led 10-5 on a Michaelis kill. Fuller swung for a kill and the Tigers took a 19-10 lead, then teamed with with Eudis for a pair of blocks and a 24-16 advantage. Ashley Scott fired off an ace serve for the winner at 25-16 and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Carlson’s ace brought the Bruins back in Set 4 to close to within one at 12-11 and it was another one-point deficit, 18-17, after a Carlson kill. Madi Scott found some offense and knocked down a pair of kills, leading Orem to a 22-18 lead. The Tigers got to match point at 24-19 but Mountain View made things interesting and closed to 24-22, threatening to extend the match. But a Bruins serve went long and Orem took the 3-1 victory.
“I think the biggest question that went through my head as a coach was, ‘Did I prep them enough for these kind of matches?'” Sefita said. “Because we knew that we’re coming to Mountain View territory, and all I could do is just constantly give my team good, positive affirmations of the things that we can do, instead of asking what we aren’t doing.”
Orem really seized momentum in the third set with a series of blocks against Mountain View’s top hitters.
“I think that’s the one thing we told our front row is just be big and just know that all we’re asking them to do is take space,” Sefita said. “We’re not reaching, we’re trusting the back row to capture the stuff that goes on the side.”
Orem (15-2, 4-0 4A Region 8) has won four in a row against the Bruins and will take on Timpanogos Thursday. Mountain View (13-4, 3-1) will travel to Vernal to play Uintah.
