The Kanab Varsity team traveled up to South Sevier this past Thursday. They got held up on their travels in traffic with a three-car auto accident ahead. This added a big wait time to their bus ride, but when they got on their way they showed up hungry and ready to play. South Sevier had kindly ordered a pizza for our team and had it waiting. The Freshman barely lost, JV got the win and Varsity was able to get the win in four games. As a team they totaled 14 serving aces, 34 assists, 39 kills, seven blocks and 46 digs. Scores ended at 25-15, 25-15, 19-25, 25-22.
Left to right, photos by Jeremy Houston:
Coaches, bench and team all celebrate the Cowboys’ big point.
Haven Syrett pushes big points for the Cowboys with her serve.
Nora Barnson and team get ready for the next play.
The team got home late and back up early to get to school so they could get back on the bus Friday afternoon to head up to the two-day SVC Tournament. This tournament had some really competitive teams from all different sizes of schools. On the first day Kanab was scheduled to play North Summit, the third ranked 2A team with a strong volleyball program. The Cowboys played really well together. They came out on fire and got the Braves in three games: 25-14, 26-24 and 25-13. Team stat totals for three sets was 15 serving aces, 31 kills, 27 assists, 33 digs and four blocks. This was a great win for our team. North Summit has been in the state championship game more than any other 2A team over this past decade.
The next game, on Friday, we were scheduled to play sixth ranked 3A North Sanpete. We played them a little too tight for comfort in some of the sets but our team looked confident and got the job done. Scores ended 25-22, 19-25, 27-25 and 26-24. Team stat numbers came in with eight serving aces, 52 assists, 57 kills, five blocks and 70 digs. Our teams had some long rallies back and forth. On Saturday morning, our first game was against third ranked 3A team Emery. The Cowboys came out looking really good and got the big win with scores of 25-15, 25-22, 16-25 and in the last game we had a big comeback and got the win at 25-23. As a team the girls got 10 serving aces, five blocks, 34 assists, 35 kills and 90 digs.
The last game of scheduled pool play for Saturday was against southern Utah 3A school Pine View. Kanab started a little slow but got this team in three games to win the set. Scores were 25-16, 25-9, 25-7. Team stats were 13 serving aces, eight blocks, 23 assists, 24 kills and 30 digs.
As the tournament games wrapped up there were just us and one other team left undefeated out of 16 other teams. We waited to see how the RPI ranking would come out. We came in with just a four-point difference in our games. So, it was one of our region 18 rivals who we would play for the tournament championship.
The Championship game started a little bit early. Our team came out playing a little nervous and trying a new defense and other things against this team. The Cowboys didn’t get it done this time but we are grateful for the opportunity we had to try some things against this team before we face them again in region play, and possibly state. Scores ended up 15-25, 21-25, 25- 17. Together our team had two aces, three blocks, 22 assists, 24 kills and 57 digs.
We felt like it was a great tournament and are really proud of our team for doing so well against such big schools. They have a lot of skills, energy and grit and we are excited to finish out with a strong season.
Senior night was on Tuesday, October 10, against the Enterprise Wolves. Then, the following Tuesday, we will be playing in Parowan for our last region game before we head to UVU for state playoffs.
The Cowboys are currently ranked #2 in state for 2A and have a 20-5 record for the season. You can find their games streamed off of the Kanab High School website. We have a great team that is fun to watch; come out and cheer them on!
