Although they are still getting better, the Emery High Lady Spartans volleyball team continues to struggle as they are into region 8 play. On Thursday night, if you were present at the match, you saw the advantage of a team that plays year round. Thursday night, Emery lost the home match 25-18, 25-15 and 25-22. Tuesday night, at Delta, Emery lost 25-23, 25-20 and 25-16.
At Delta, Emery was in the first set and lost a close one by two points. As the night went on, Emery found themselves getting further and further behind.
Against Carbon, Emery and Carbon were tied in set 1 at 9-9. Carbon then quietly snuck away to a 15-11 lead then an 18-12 lead and finally a 22-13 lead. Emery made a brief comeback effort and cut the deficit to 22-16 before losing.
In the second set, Emery fell behind 7-3 early and then came back to tie the game at 9-9. From that tie, Emery fell apart and quickly trailed 20-11.
In the third set, Emery got behind early but refused to go away and kept the score close until finally succumbing at the end. The score was tied at 4-4 and 6-6. Carbon jumped up 10-6 as the Spartans failed to take advantage of openings given to them. Emery clawed back into the game at 20-19 before Carbon wrapped it up.
Coach Kris Bell is still looking for the team to solidify this season and use the talent that the players have to be a good team. By playing club ball, which does come with a hefty price to parents for the travel involved, teams are able to improve their team play and individual play. The disparity usually shows between the haves and the have-nots.
Coach Bell talked to her players, “You need to realize that you have talent, our team is loaded with talent.” Emery does seem to have a quality team but they do not play with enough confidence. Coach Bell continued, “We need to pull it out, we see our problems but cannot seem to fix them. We have to correct this.”
Next week, Emery will travel to North Sanpete on Tuesday night and then host Juan Diego on Thursday night.
Lady Spartans struggle in region volleyball
"ShiAnne Allred. "