OREM—The folks who did the seeding for this year’s state 5A girls volleyball tournament had it just about right. They seeded the Bountiful Redhawks and the Woods Cross Wildcats as top four teams entering the tournament at Utah Valley University. When the dust settled on Saturday, Bountiful did indeed take second place and Woods Cross finished third. 

It was a good weekend for both teams, who moved into Saturday morning semifinals after wins on Thursday. And in Friday’s 6A consolation bracket, the Davis Darts played through with one loss and finished sixth in state.

BOUNTIFUL (season record 27-8)

The Redhawks reached the finals with wins over East (3-0), Skyline (3-1) and Alta (3-0). That moved Bountiful into the finals with Maple Mountain, the top seed which hadn’t lost a single set since dropping one to Bingham on October 9.

The first set didn’t start well for Bountiful, as the Golden Eagles took a quick 5-0 lead with four aces from senior Adi Gammell. That lead grew to 10-4 before the Redhawks rallied back. A kill from junior Taylor Harvey, an ace from sophomore Adelaide Stevenson, a block from Harvey and a kill from sophomore Milika Satuala cut the lead to 10-8. It stayed close until, at 16-13 for Maple Mountain, the Golden Eagles ran off six straight points, led by senior Marly Pratt. Harvey killed a point to end the run, but Maple got the next three for a 25-14 set one win.

Set two was better for Bountiful, which took its first lead over Maple after a kill by Harvey and an ace from Stevenson put the Redhawks up 16-14. The teams remained deadlocked at 19-all before Pratt and fellow seniors Rachel Workman and Emma Bailey pushed the lead to 23-19 for Maple. The Golden Eagles won set two 25-22.

Bountiful found its stride in set three, taking a 6-2 lead, then moving from 7-5 to 13-5. Satuala and senior Hailie Hewlett had kills, junior Rachel Erickson scored an ace, and the Golden Eagles were clearly confused on the Bountiful offense attack. The lead moved to 16-6 after an ace from freshman Aspyn Danner and a block from Hewlett, and Harvey killed the set point to give Bountiful a 25-18 win.

Alisi Tapa’atoutai (40), Woods Cross had four Kills against Springville in the State 5A Tournament at UVU. The Wildcats went on to take 3rd Place beating Alta 3 - 0. Photo by Roger V. Tuttle

Maple Mountain made slow but steady runs in the final set, though Harvey and Satuala continued to make kills and dinks. After a Harvey kill cut Maple’s lead to 22-18, Workman, Pratt and senior Emma Bailey led the charge, eventually clinching on a deep return from Bountiful to take set four (25-19) and the championship. Harvey finished with 30 kills in the final.

“It’s always hard to lose, but we couldn’t be mad about it,” coach Kelsie White said. “Maple Mountain is such a deep and experienced team, very talented and with great girls. We played well and did everything we could to beat them. It’s been a very crazy season for us–with 15 different girls suffering injuries and two we lost for the season. But we overcame a lot, and to make it to the finals was great. We couldn’t have asked for more as their coaches.”

Bountiful will lose Hewlitt, Macie Johnson, Kaylee Simon and Elle Burleson to graduation.

WOODS CROSS (28-8)

The Wildcats defeated Springville 3-0 and Salem Hills 3-2 to earn their way into a Saturday semi with Maple Mountain. The Golden Eagles prevailed in three sets, winning 25-8, 25-6 and 25-21. But that didn’t discourage Woods Cross in the third-fourth place match with Alta.

Woods Cross took the Hawks in straight sets, winning 25-11 25-21 25-20. Coach Josey Hilton said her team worked really hard at the tourney, something they’d been focused on since the preseason.

“I wrote down on my white board November 4,” she said. “That was our goal–to be playing on the final day of the state tournament, and we did it.” She said many members on her very young team had never been in a state semifinal before. After losing to eventual champ Maple Mountain, “the girls relaxed, became more focused. They knew that they deserved third place.”

Freshman Zamari Christensen, sophomore Avery Poulton, freshman Alisi 

Tapa’atoutai and seniors Dani Brey and Annie Lewis led the charge for the Wildcats. The Wildcat seniors playing their final match were Lewis, Brey, Anau Tua’one, Millie Oscarson and Akilisi Pahulu.

VIEWMONT(16-14)

The Vikings earned their way into quarterfinals with a 3-1 win over Olympus and a 3-2 victory over Brighton. On Thursday, Maple Mountain bested Viewmont 3-0 (25-13 25-9 25-17) and then Salem Hills eliminated Viewmont 3-1, with two tiebreaking sets (26-24 with each team winning one).

Playing their final matches for Viewmont were seniors Brooklyn Bedingfield, Brittley Gines, Taylor Veach, Sydney Hansen, Julia Beard and Maddie Lege.

DAVIS (11-16)

After losing a 3-0 match Bingham in round one. Davis came back with wins over Copper Hills 3-1, Syracuse 3-2 and Westlake 3-1 (20-25 25-16, 25-17 25-22) to take sixth place in 6A.

Coach McKay Barker praised her team, particularly junior Anabell Briggs and senior Loryn Helgesen, and the way they focused at state.

“We took it one game at a time, not looking too far ahead at the bracket,” she said. “We had a very tough preseason and I think the players agreed that they underperformed at times. But they were really on point at state, knowing we could have success as we came together. The girls did a good job at that.”

Graduating seniors are Helgesen, Emily Walker, Emma Robbins, Anna Harkness, Anne Downs, Jenna Sullivan, Kennedy Thompson and Kayla Robinson.

FARMINGTON (21-13)

The Phoenix went 1-2 at state, losing the opener to Mountain Ridge 3-2, beating Layton 3-2 and then losing 3-0 to Westlake.

Farmington loses Quincy Wilson, Brinlee Galbraith, Brady Day, Rachel Bell, Aspen Peterson, Jenna Goates, Kaylee Monroe, Shelby Topham, Laina Whitney and Rachel Shingleton to graduation.