The Bountiful High boys volleyball team begin the first season of official sanctioning as the top-ranked team in Region 5 while Woods Cross is second and Viewmont sixth. 

Bountiful

Sarah Chism, who has coached the Bountiful girls team to multiple state championships, helped organize a club team last spring in preparation for this season where she will be heading up the Redhawks program.

“This is going to an exciting spring with a wide-open field,” she said. “We can’t wait for the fans to experience the exciting and fun sport of high school boys volleyball.”

Bountiful will be led on the court by sophomore outside hitters Connor Burleson and Landon Chism. “While we are very young this season, we have a lot of experience in our youth that will help us a lot this season,” said Coach Chism. “Connor and Landon both had sisters that played volleyball for Bountiful’s state championship team. They have both played a lot of club and beach volleyball and have been around the game their entire lives.”

Others Coach Chism expects to “be impact players” for the Redhawks are seniors Mason Allen, Trevor Cummings and Vicente Silva Perez and junior Kainoa Evans. 

Freshmen Aidan Sanford and Boston Nelson also bring experience and will be looked to for contributions to the varsity squad while juniors Max Johnson and Jacob Bremner and sophomore Ryan Youngberg could also “make appearances as the season progresses,” according to Coach Chism. 

An emphasis on the fundamentals of the sport has been the key in preparing for the year. “Our focus has been and always will be on fundamentals,” Coach Chism said. “We want to make sure we have a good foundation of skills and knowledge which helps the advancement of the game. Our goals are to be the best we can be every day, every practice, every match, every point, every contact. We really feel that if we do that, the score will take care of itself.”

Coach Chism is being assisted this season by Hayden Hamblin, Tom Harper, Jeremiah White and Kelsie White.

“I have the best coaching staff!” Coach Chism said. “They are amazing and just want to grow and share the sport of volleyball. We are so excited to begin this new sport at Bountiful High School. We love the group of kids that decided to take a risk and try something new. I’m hopeful that they learn to love the sport of volleyball as much as we as a staff do!”

To begin the year, Bountiful defeated Davis 25-15, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17 March 5 before losing to Pleasant Grove 25-15, 22-25, 25-17, 25-16 March 6. 

The Redhawks will also face Alta, Orem, Copper Hills, Bingham, Olympus Weber and compete in the Sky View Invitational April 26-27 along with Region 5 home-and-away matches with Roy, Clearfield, Bonneville, Viewmont, Northridge, Box Elder and Woods Cross before the 5A state tournament begins May 14.

Woods Cross

Woods Cross High girls volleyball coach Josey Hilton will also be heading up the Wildcats boys program this season as the first sanctioned year gets underway.

“It’s gonna be a great season with lots of learning, lots of fun and a ton of growth for future seasons,” Hilton said. “We’re super excited.”

Senior outside hitter Cole Howard is “somebody to watch,” according to Hilton, with seniors Hayden Poulton and Ryker Iverson, juniors Khang Tran and RJ Violette and sophomores Clayton Schmitt and King Tuivaiti also expected to be key players for Woods Cross this season.

Hilton has been holding open gyms through the winter where the basics of passing, hitting and serving were emphasized. “We saw a lot of improvement which was important because we wanted to see how coachable these guys are,” Hilton said.

Also on the WXHS squad are seniors Elliot Gaertner, Isaac Johnson, Eli Michaelis, Dallin Olsen, Lockwood Smoot and Jeffrey Taylor; juniors Grant Hamblin, Lincoln Hibbert, Will Lane, Wesley Lehman, Camden Mabey, Lincoln Preston, Christian Sanchez, Steve Sauni and Kimbo Tapusoa; sophomores Eli Bodell, Preston Gilmore, Brayden Haas, Leo VanDerBerghe and Sean Vanous; and freshmen Sam Bahr, Lincoln Ericson, Wyatt Hunter, Bentley Murdock, Weston Nielson, Bennett Pilkington, Max Ratto and Tanner Woffinden.

Hilton is being assisted by PJ Fallavelave, Karl Ramirez and Tracy Ita who all bring college playing and club coaching experience to the coaching staff.

“It’s hard to know what the season is going to look like and we don’t know how other schools are going to stack up,” Hilton said. “But, our goal is to be playing in the later state rounds at UVU at the end.”

So far this season, Woods Cross lost to Park City 27-29, 25-14, 24-26, 25-20, 15-9 March 5.

At a JV/sophomore tournament at Sky View March 9, both teams played in the bronze bracket with the teams facing each other to end the tournament. The JV matches all went to three sets, losing just one. Pool play ended in a three-way tie for first place with the Wildcats losing a play-out set to five points. The sophomores faced JV teams in this tournament and “definitely held their own,” according to Hilton. The JV and sophomore squads ended up facing each other in the bronze bracket to close out the tournament with the JV team winning the match although the sophomores were able to win a set. “It was a very successful tournament with growth happening right before our eyes,” Hilton said. “The level of improvement from the first match of the day to the last match of the day was just incredible. I am super proud of these boys.”

Woods Cross is also scheduled to play Hunter before Region 5 home-and-away matches against Box Elder, Roy, Clearfield, Bonneville, Viewmont, Northridge, Bountiful and Box Elder along with tournaments at Pleasant Grove March 22-23 and Ogden April 26-27 to finish out the regular season.

Viewmont

Viewmont High head coach Karl Lippa was hoping to “keep every kid that walked through the door” until his numbers kept climbing. So, he extended his tryouts to give as many as possible the opportunity to be a part of the Vikings squad.

“I wanted to keep a big program for our first year,” said Lippa, noting that several of his players are multi-sport athletes. “There’s a lot of excitement among the kids for this first year of being sanctioned and they are beyond grateful for the opportunity. I’m especially excited for the seniors who get a chance to do something no one else in Viewmont history gets to do and be leaders on and off the court as well.”

Lippa, who coached the boys junior varsity club team last season and also heads up the girls program in the fall, got more than enough numbers to field a sophomore, junior varsity and varsity team as he builds the VHS program. “I try to be as organized and prepared as I can be, but in reality, I’m building the plane as I fly it,” he said.

The VHS team this year consists of seniors Brandon Groethe, Aaron Harkness, Christian Hirst, Michael Kabo, Ty Phillips, Daren Tovey, Blake Wilkinson and Ryker Zeh; juniors Bode Bangerter, Dominic Dirkmaat, Curtis Gerber, Samuel Higginson, Isaiah Kimball, Jo Jo Kongaika, Benson Reynolds, Zach Schlies, Matthew Stevens, Jackson Veigel, Matt Welsh and Jace Winget; sophomores Wesley Crookston, Dallin Lether, Thomas MacKay, Taylor Miller, Harrison Nagel, October Taylor, Carson Tovey, Noah Vaterflaus and Jonathan Williquette; and 

freshmen Kennard Lin, Caleb Ormsby and Daniel Peterson.

Lippa is being assisted on the coaching staff by Kristi Roy, Gama Tellez and Mike DiMaria and team managers Sydney Hansen, Brittle Gines and Brook Bedingfield.

Viewmont began the season with a 25-10, 25-18, 25-21 loss to Riverton March 6.

“It was an exceptional match by Riverton with ball control and an extremely fast, and well-run offense by their setter,” Lippa said. “Our improvements from the first set to the third set were noticeable as the boys settled better into a groove form adjusting to their pace in the first set.”

The Vikings will also face Farmington before Region 5 play gets underway in home-and-away matches with Bonneville, Box Elder, Northridge, Bountiful, Woods Cross, Roy and Clearfield. They will also compete in tournaments at Pleasant Grove March 22-23, Spanish Fork April 26-27 and Cedar Valley (JV) May 4. The 5A state tournament is scheduled to be held May 14-18 at Utah Valley University.

“Everyone’s excited and it’s a great opportunity for all of the boys regardless of how the seasons play out for us all,” Lippa said. “What really matters in all of this is, ‘Are they going to be great young men when they leave this program?’ If you do that, winning will take care of itself.”