Lady Bronco volleyball team goes 5-5 in October to close regular season with a 14-12 record

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
It was an even-keel October for the San Juan High School volleyball team. The Lady Broncos won five matches while losing five to close out their regular season with a 14-12 overall record. They were 6-4 this season in Region 15 play.
The team began the month with a three-day road trip, sweeping Gunnison Valley on October 5 before stopping in Richfield to play the Sevier Valley Center Tournament October 6 and 7.
In that tournament they got wins over North Sanpete and Grantsville, but lost to Emery, Richfield, and North Sanpete.
San Juan returned home to sweep Monticello on October 10 and Grand County on October 12. They concluded the regular season on October 13 and 14 with losses at Union and Uintah.
Before the 2A RPI standings were taken offline, the Lady Broncos were somewhere around eighth place in the classification.
Unless there is dramatic movement before the final standings are revealed on October 18, it is very likely they will host a home game in the first round of the state tournament on Saturday, October 21.
Through the 26 matches and 71 sets this regular season, sophomore Morgann McPherson leads the team with an impressive 158 kills. Jaci Su’esu’e is right behind with 148, Keezie Flannery has 99, and Trinity Whatcott finished with 87.
Su’esu’e is tops among the Lady Broncos with 53 blocks in the regular season. Madden Perkins came on strong to tie Lizzie Palmer with 38 and Flannery has 21 blocks so far this year.
Su’esu’e also leads San Juan with a 93.9 serve percentage. She has served up 26 aces and scored 119 points with 15 errors in 244 attempts.
But Flannery leads the team with 215 points off serves and 51 aces. She sports an 89.4 serve percentage, with a team-leading 360 attempts.
Whatcott improved her serving percentage to 91.3 during the second half of the regular season. She has 30 aces and 159 points in 286 attempts. Averie Gilson is serving 89.9 percent with 34 aces and 98 points in 189 attempts.
Gilson leads the team hands down with 268 digs, McPherson has 210, Flannery has 190, Whatcott has 172, Shaylin Nez has 86, and Su’esu’e has 53.
When the final standings are revealed on Wednesday, the state tournament bracket will also be set. Again, San Juan should begin at home this weekend, then the second round through the finals will take place at Utah Valley University in Orem October 27-28.