Lady Buckaroos enter 1A Utah State Volleyball Tournament fifth
by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
After suffering three straight losses to start the month of October the Monticello High School volleyball team kicked into high gear and put together a four-game winning streak, propelling themselves into the top five in the 1A RPI standings.
Region 19 wins over Whitehorse on October 15 and Pinnacle October 17 set the Lady Buckaroos on the right foot as they entered play at the 1A/2A Clash in Richfield.
In the first two games of that tournament on October 18 the girls made quick work of Wayne and Bryce Valley, improving their record to 12-7 at the time. But day one concluded with a tough loss to 2A Duchesne and that trend continued through the second day of the tourney.
The Lady Bucks suffered losses to 1A top-ranked Valley, familiar rival Grand County, and 2A Gunnison Valley to close out their trip to Richfield on October 19.
But the girls came back home and swept Monument Valley on Tuesday, October 22 to close out their regular season with a 13-11 record.
Heading into the postseason Alise Lewis leads the team with 232 kills, an average of 10.5 per game. Alli Young has 131 and Marlee Mack has 87.
Josie Mack leads the team with 233 assists (10.6 per game), but Makenna Peterson is right behind with 227 (10.3 per game).
Marlee Mack has the best serve percentage at 95.6 percent. Josie Mack is serving 94.3 percent on the season and Alli Young is at 90.6 percent. Lewis leads with 40 aces, Peterson has 28, and Josie Mack has 23.
Marlee Mack has a team-high 268 digs (12.2 per game) while Lewis has 223 and Young has 222. Lewis has 57 blocks (2.6 per game), Josie Mack has 27, and Young has 26.
Monticello’s 13-11 overall record is good enough to place them fifth in the final RPI standings and 1A state tournament seedings.
They enjoyed a bye in the first round of the state tournament and they’ll be heading right back to Richfield this Friday and Saturday, November 1-2 looking to snag their first state volleyball championship in 12 years.
The Lady Buckaroos are facing #12 Escalante in the second round at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. With a win they would likely face #4 Manila in the quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m.
If they upset the Lady Mustangs they would earn a Saturday rematch with the #1 Valley Lady Buffalos in the state semifinals. It all comes down to the final two days of the season at the Sevier Valley Center.
A link to watch Monticello’s progress live will be available on the Utah High School Activities Association webpage. Visit uhsaa.org/tournaments for full details and check the November 6 issue of the San Juan Record for complete results.