| Emery Lady Spartans get ready to return the ball. |
Playing on the road at the end of the season against a good Emery High volleyball team was a not a good combination for the hapless Granite Farmers last Tuesday at the Spartan Center. The host team quickly sent the Farmers back to the city in a three game set with scores of 25-5, 25-10 and 25-12.
The Spartans started out quickly as Haylie Hansen started the first game with six straight serves in getting the Spartans to a 5-0 lead. The lead was extended to 15-4, then to 20-5 before Camille Fehlberg finished off the game serving five straight points.
Emery so dominated that first game, the only points that Granite had were serves that Emery hit into the net. Emery went through the rotation one time and one time only in that game. The Spartans played at ease and with amazing accuracy in the win.
While games two and three were not the blowout of game one, the Spartans were a little less intense as they could by now feel the hopelessness of their opponent, they still played at a higher level and were actually quite fun to watch.
After the game Coach Ferd Allred was quite proud of his troops, “We were ready to play and the girls took the game right at them. I am proud of their efforts to raise their level of play.”
I decided to keep track of individual statistics during the game to see how well they really help the team. Natalee Hanson and Rachel Rasmussen led the team in kills with six apiece with Camille Fehlberg and Ashley Hansen right behind with five apiece. Shaylie Huntington and Tahna Merrill each had two. The entire team did a good job of keeping the ball in play and getting it to where it needed to go.
The Spartans now travel to Utah Valley State College this week and play their first game Thursday afternoon against the Uintah Utes at 3:30 p.m. Uintah finished second in region 10 to Emery’s third in Region 9. Uintah defeated Emery in the opening game of the season.
Emery will also play again Thursday at 7 p.m. Games at UVSC will take place in the main arena and also the activity center that is connected to the arena. State play concludes with the championship game Friday night at 8 p.m.
Coach Allred added this “If the girls go to the state meet with an attitude to win and if they will play together like they have been, they will do very well.”