Lady Buckaroo volleyball wins eight of ten, looks to finish regular season with momentum
by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The Monticello High School volleyball team has won eight of their last ten games and now sports a 10-6 overall record. They’re 5-1 in Region 19 play and were ranked sixth in the Utah 1A standings heading into the final week of the regular season.
The Lady Buckaroos picked up straight-sets wins over Green River; Rock Point, AZ; and Dove Creek, CO in the past two weeks. Their only loss in the past couple weeks was a tough, hard-fought rivalry battle that went five sets in Monument Valley.
Monticello cruised to the finish line in the game at Green River on September 30, outscoring their region opponents 25-20, 25-20, and 25-12.
Marlee Mack led the offensive charge with eight kills. Jane Burton and Makenna Peterson had seven kills apiece, Josie Mack had five, and Maron Freestone collected four.
Monticello aced the Lady Pirates 12 times in the win. Lay Peterson led in that department with four aces, Marlee Mack got three, and Josie Mack had two. Josie Mack assisted on 15 points while Makenna Peterson had eight assists in the win.
Defensively Marlee Mack had 13 digs against Green River, Maron Frestone got nine, and Lay Peterson and Shelby Rogers collected five each.
At the net Maron Freestone, Makenna Peterson, and Shelby Rogers all had two blocks apiece. Marlee Mack, Josie Mack, and Anna Nebeker all contributed one block each.
On Friday, October 3 the Lady Bucks returned to Monticello for one final regular season home game against Rock Point, AZ. They pleased the home crowd with another sweep 25-16, 25-14, and 26-24.
Shelby Rogers and Maron Freestone both had six kills each in the win. Marlee and Josie Mack registered three kills apiece. Jane Burton and Makenna Peterson had two kills each. Peterson, Burton, and Nebeker all served up three aces each. Marlee Mack had ten assists and Peterson collected nine.
Josie Mack blocked three Rock Point attempts while Rogers and Freestone got two blocks apiece. Marlee and Josie Mack led the team with 13 digs and 11 digs respectively. Madie Adair had eight digs, Peterson seven, and Nebeker five.
On Tuesday, October 7 Monticello traveled to Monument Valley to face the rival Lady Cougars in a Region 19 battle that turned out to be an absolute knock-down-drag-out affair.
The Lady Bucks opened with a 31-29 set one win, but Monument Valley rallied to win the next two sets 25-20 and 25-19.
Monticello answered with a 25-19 set four win, forcing a fifth and final set to decide the winner. In front of their home crowd the Lady Cougars held Monticello off for a 15-13 win.
In their most recent match on Thursday, October 9 the Lady Buckaroos traveled to Dove Creek, CO where they downed the rival Lady Bulldogs in straight sets.
The match was closer than the final score indicated though. Monticello did cruise to a 25-10 win in set one, but for the rest of the night the battle was on.
Dove Creek forced Monticello into overtime in set two, but the Lady Bucks held on nicely for a 26-24 win. Then in the third set the visitors closed out the match with a 25-22 victory.
Monticello is closing out their regular season with two games this week. They played a road match against the rival Whitehorse Lady Raiders in Montezuma Creek on Tuesday, October 14 after the San Juan Record print deadline.
They’ll return home to host Pinnacle on Thursday, October 16 in the MHS gym. That one is scheduled for a 6:15 p.m. start.