6A volleyball: Syracuse upsets Herriman to advance to state semifinals; Weber falls in quarters
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- Syracuse High’s volleyball team celebrates winning a point during a 6A state tournament quarterfinal match against Herriman on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, at Utah Valley University.
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- Syracuse High’s Tehana Mo’o (left) and Kallie Johnansen (right) jump up to block a shot during a 6A volleyball state tournament quarterfinal match against Herriman on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022 at Utah Valley University.
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- Syracuse High’s Brilyn Jensen passes the ball during a 6A state tournament quarterfinal match against Herriman on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022 at Utah Valley University.
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- Weber High’s Jackie Craven (left) and Kallie Gibby (right) jump to block a shot during a 6A volleyball state tournament quarterfinal match against Skyridge on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022 at Utah Valley University.
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- Davis High’s Aubrey Nielson jumps up to hit the ball during a 6A volleyball state tournament one-loss bracket match against Farmington on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022 at Utah Valley University.
OREM — Anxiety was high on Thursday morning for the Syracuse High volleyball team.
A bus was supposed to pick the team up at the school at 8:15 a.m. for the hour-long drive to Utah Valley University for the 6A state volleyball tournament.
It wasn’t until 8:45 that the Titans got on the bus, which pulled up to the arena at 10:20 a.m., 10 minutes before their second-round playoff match against Hunter.
“So, we all just ran in here with all our stuff on and everyone was just a little jittery, that’s all,” senior libero Kambree Rodriguez said.
The team took a few minutes to warm up and proceeded to sweep Hunter in the second round. About four hours later, all that morning anxiety had turned into excitement after the No. 7 Titans upset No. 2 Herriman in the state quarterfinals.
“I just feel like overall for 6A, it’s anyone’s. Anyone has the opportunity if you play well. That’s what I told my kids. We have the opportunity, why not us?” Syracuse coach Corrie Vigil said.
Syracuse beat Herriman 25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 25-15 to get to the semis for the second year in a row. Two-time defending 6A champion Lone Peak awaits the Titans in Saturday’s 10 a.m. semifinal back at UVU.
“It’s really exciting because everyone really doubted us and how we’ve been playing,” Rodriguez said. “I’m just really glad that we’ve gotten the opportunity to get back to where we were and it’s just — we’ve been working so hard to get to this point.”
In an numerical upset, 7 seeded Syracuse knocks off 2 seed Herriman in 4 sets to get to the 6A semifinals pic.twitter.com/Gdfk1g14WG
— Patrick Carr (@patrickcarr_) November 3, 2022
There are differences between this year’s Syracuse team and last year’s. One key difference is at setter, where junior Brilyn Jensen took over this year for four-year starter Hailee Garcia, who’s now playing at St. Mary’s.
“We know that we don’t have the same girls as last year, we’re definitely not as strong as we were last year, but we put a lot more effort in and a lot more work in. I’m just really proud of us,” said Rodriguez, who’s committed to Utah State.
Syracuse jumped ahead of Herriman in the first two sets, particularly the second set, which looked like it was heading for a runaway.
Rodriguez served several straight points late in the second set to give the Titans a huge lead. A few of her serves landed short in the court and she picked up multiple aces in that stretch.
Syracuse’s focus coming in was to limit Herriman’s standout outside hitter, Nana Asiata (344 kills, .399 hitting percentage).
“We had to be aware of where she was, and then just that and minimizing her opportunities and then we had to serve tough, keep them out of system and then we could manage that,” Vigil said.
Tehana Mo’o, Kallie Johansen, Mikelle Neilson, Emily Kenison and Breanne Jacobson each had a hand, or two, in the win, whether it was from hitting, blocking or serving.
Midway through the fourth set, it was clear Syracuse was serving tough and Herriman wasn’t passing well because the Mustangs were indeed out of system, which led to less effective hits, and easier pickups and hits for Syracuse.
“Honestly, our blocking. We’ve had a few times with struggles with that, but I think our blocking did really, really well,” Rodriguez said.
More good serving gave Syracuse a 24-14 lead late in the fourth set and it soon closed out the Mustangs.
The Titans weren’t the only Region 1 team with a good showing.
No. 12 Weber upset No. 5 Davis in the morning’s second round before falling in the quarterfinals in four sets to No. 4 Skyridge, who had earlier needed five sets to beat No. 13 Farmington in the second round.
“We were good at serve receive and we just got on them early, I felt like we were in control the entire match,” Weber’s second-year head coach Renae Davis said.
The teams split the first two sets (Skyridge 25-23 and Weber 25-23). Weber went down early in the third set, trailed 19-14 late and clawed back to a 20-19 lead with the help of Brecklyn Dalpais’ serve.
At 21-21, Skyridge’s Kate Mackenna Ohlsen served two aces and Weber had a shot blocked to give the Falcons three set points. The Warriors saved two with hits by Havi Montano before Madison Standifird’s down-the-line kill won the set for Skyridge.
For all of Weber’s good play in the first three sets, the fourth set was a letdown for the Warriors, who made several hitting errors. On the points where they got the ball over the net, Skyridge was ready, waiting and pounced.
It was clear Weber could play with Skyridge, but Renae Davis said the Warriors lost focus and organization at times.
Weber dropped into the fifth-place bracket and will face No. 9 Pleasant Grove at 11:30 a.m. Friday. Last year, the Warriors lost their second-round match in the tournament and rallied in the consolation rounds to take sixth place.
“I think my players just want it. At the end of the year, when we’re at state, we cherish going to state, we know it’s a fun environment, we want to play, we want to be here and it’s always just a switch that flips,” Davis said.
Davis High rebounded after the Weber loss and beat Farmington (15-13) in four sets to end the Phoenix’s season. The Darts (22-8) face No. 8 Copper Hills in the sixth-place bracket at 10 a.m. Friday.
THURSDAY SCORES
SECOND ROUND
Syracuse 3, Hunter 0 (25-21, 25-11, 25-21)
Skyridge 3, Farmington 2 (25-27, 25-8, 25-21, 23-25, 16-14)
Weber 3, Davis 0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-21)
QUARTERFINALS
Syracuse 3, Herriman 1 (25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 25-15)
Skyridge 3, Weber 1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20)
CONSOLATION
Davis 3, Farmington 1 (25-23, 25-20, 15-25, 25-22)
Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.