Golden finish: Orem blitzes Green Canyon in fifth set for 4A girls volleyball title
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- celebrates winning the Class 4A Championship with a 3-2 victory against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center on Friday, October 30, 2026.
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- The Orem girls volleyball team celebrates winning the Class 4A Championship with a 3-2 victory against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center on Friday, October 30, 2026.
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- celebrates winning the Class 4A Championship with a 3-2 victory against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center on Friday, October 30, 2026.
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- celebrates winning the Class 4A Championship with a 3-2 victory against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center on Friday, October 30, 2026.
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- celebrates winning the Class 4A Championship with a 3-2 victory against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center on Friday, October 30, 2026.
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- celebrates winning the Class 4A Championship with a 3-2 victory against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center on Friday, October 30, 2026.
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- The Orem girls volleyball team celebrates scoring a point against Green Canyon in the 4A state finals at the UCCU Center on October 30, 2026.
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- The Orem girls volleyball team celebrates scoring a point against Green Canyon in the 4A state finals at the UCCU Center on October 30, 2026.
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- Orem libero Eve Allred dives for the ball against Green Canyon in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on October 30, 2026.
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- Orem’s Meilani Akana attacks against Green Canyon in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on October 30, 2026.
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- The Orem girls volleyball team celebrates scoring a point against Green Canyon in the 4A state finals at the UCCU Center on October 30, 2026.
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- The Orem girls volleyball team celebrates scoring a point against Green Canyon in the 4A state finals at the UCCU Center on October 30, 2026.
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- Orem’s Haven Michaelis attacks against Green Canyon in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on October 30, 2026.
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- Orem’s Callie Eudis attacks against Green Canyon in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on October 30, 2026.
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- Orem’s Eve Allred serves against Green Canyon in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on October 30, 2026.
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- Orem’s Meilani Akana attacks against Green Canyon in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on October 30, 2026.
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- Orem’s Haven Michaelis serves against Green Canyon in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on October 30, 2026.
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- Orem’s Amelia Marshall Orem’s sets a teammate against Green Canyon in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on October 30, 2026.
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- Orem’s Madi Scott serves against Green Canyon in the 4A girls volleyball state finals at the UCCU Center on October 30, 2026.
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- Orem girls volleyball fans react during the Class 4A state title match against Green Canyon at the UCCU Center on Friday, October 30, 2026.
To steady themselves during the tense fifth set of the 4A girls volleyball state finals, Orem seniors Haven Michaelis and Eve Allred gripped arms, looked each other in the eyes and took a deep breath.
That senior calm — along with the brilliant athleticism and skill of freshman Meilani Akana — propelled the Tigers to a stunning 7-1 run in that fifth set to finish out a wildly entertaining 3-2 (25-22, 25-20, 25-27, 21-25, 15-8) victory against Green Canyon on Friday at the UCCU Center.
“We all take a deep breath together,” an emotional Michaelis said amidst the post-match celebration. “We let it out, let out the nerves and believe in ourselves.”
That belief was tested after Green Canyon recovered from a 2-0 hole to force a fifth set.
“I think the message was loud and clear for us and it was we can’t go back and fix the past two sets that we gave up to Green Canyon,” Tigers head coach Bill Sefita said. “What we can do is focus how to respond, the attitude we can bring in and the efforts that we can bring into Set 5.”
Orem seized the momentum and led the fifth set 7-3 after back-to-back blocks, keyed by junior middle Callie Eudis. Green Canyon rallied and close to 8-7 on a dump attack from setter Eliza Force. That’s when Akana — who was playing for the Brazilian U-19 national team when the Tigers lost to the Wolves back in August — absolutely took over. During Orem’s 7-1 run, Akana contributed four kills and two aces. At championship point (14-8), Akana ripped one the Green River defense couldn’t handle to set off a wild celebration on the Tigers’ side.
“That felt so good,” said Akana, who led Orem with 24 kills. “I was just so proud of my team. I knew we had to pick it up from those last two sets we lost. We decided we were going to focus on our side of the court and not what happens on the other side, just work together as a team.”
Junior Madi Scott contributed 16 kills for Orem and Michaelis added 10.
“One thing we really focused on in the last set was talking,” Michaelis said. “Talking is something we can all contribute, even when we’re struggling. We can all talk. So as a team, we all agreed to be loud, have energy and talk on every point. I feel like that really brought us through to the end of that set.”
Orem (29-3) nearly swept the Wolves. After winning the first two sets, the Tigers got to championship point at 24-22 in Set 3 when Akana’s ace serve caught the back line. But Akana served into the net and Green Canyon eventually won 27-25 on a kill from Avery Fauth.
That gave the Wolves some momentum and they rode that to a 25-21 win in Set 4, going on a 5-1 run to force the fifth set.
Senior Audrey White led Green Canyon (29-3) with 23 kills and Avery Birch added 22.
Sefita credited his only two senior staters (Michaelis and Allred) with helping the Tigers prepare for the the team’s biggest moment.
“Our seniors were actually very calm when they were speaking to the rest of the girls,” he said. “I think the wealth of experience from both Haven and Eva, that really brought that calm demeanor to the girls to help them fit into their roles and play those rolls well.”
Michaelis finished her career with three state titles (2023, 2024, 2026).
“It just means so much,” she said. “I’m going to miss playing with these girls so much. I feel like the four years I’ve been here, we’ve really built a family. Being on the court with those girls in that last moment, looking around and having so much trust and love for every single one of them, that’s our team.”
Sefita added: “It’s a rewarding feeling for these girls because we’ve had a lot of adversity this season, from injuries and a lot of ups and downs. We had a lot of broken pieces in our season. But we finally pieced it together and that’s what makes them champions today. The glue was that we decided to choose ‘team.’ We decided to put the team on our back and go on a run.”
Orem avenged last season’s championship match loss to Desert Hills by beating the Thunder in the semifinals earlier on Friday. The Tigers’ only losses of 2026 were to the 6A finalists (Corner Canyon and Skyridge) and Green Canyon in August.
High School
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