Seniors Loryn Helgesen and Emily Walker return from an eighth-place team last season to help lead the Davis High volleyball team this fall. They were counting on outside hitter Anne Down to also be a key contributor but head coach McKay Barker said the senior suffered an injury playing for her club team in the spring. “She will be out most, if not all, the high school season,” Barker, who is in her third season, said. “She would have been an important part of our team and our players will have to step up and work hard to fill the hole she has left.”

Junior Anabell Briggs was also noted by Barker as a player who is “showing a lot of promise for the season.”

Serving and passing are the fundamentals the Darts are focusing in on this year. “That will be huge for us,” Barker said. “We have the ability to be a great offensive team but in order to display that we have to be able to pass.”

Also on the DHS team this season are seniors Anna Harkness, Emma Robbins, Kayla Robinson, Jenna Sullivan and Kennedy Thompson; juniors Olivia Checketts, Paige Halliday, Claire Hodgson, Avery Jensen, Katie Reymer, Abigale Tanner, Leah Tuft and Naomi Udy; sophomores Alex Harris, Jewel Korth, Scarlet Little, Marella Marso, Oaklee McKenzie, Juliana Muzyhchenko, Taylor Richards, Serena Roth, Olivia Smith, Sadie Streadbeck, Ella Tsantis, Zoey Walsh and Pola Wong.

So far this season, the JV and sophomore squads played in their own Brown and Gold JV/sophomore tournament Aug. 10-11. The JV team defeated Clearfield in its final match to take fifth and the sophomores placed sixth.

“They played well and had some great matches against some great teams,” Barker said. “This is always a good tournament to see where other teams are at and helps us realize what we need to work on.”

The Darts will also face American Fork Aug. 24, Bingham Aug. 29, Mountain Ridge Aug. 31 and Morgan Sept. 6 before playing in the Utah Valley Invitational Sept. 7-9. Region 1 home-and-away games against Weber, Fremont, Syracuse, Layton and Farmington begin Sept. 14. Davis ends its regular season at the Skyline varsity tournament Oct. 20-21.