Lady Buckaroos finish fifth in 1A Utah State Volleyball Tournament

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The Monticello High School volleyball team had an enjoyable trip to Orem this past Friday and Saturday, October 27-28 for the 1A Utah State Volleyball tournament at Utah Valley University.
The Lady Buckaroos won three matches and lost just one to finish fifth in the state for the second straight season. Their only loss at the tournament came against the eventual runner-up Rich Lady Rebels in the quarterfinals.
Monticello, the #6 seed in the tournament, opened the weekend with an easy straight-sets win over #11 Wayne 25-17, 25-16, and 25-22 on Friday morning. The victory set them up with the tough meeting with #3 Rich Friday afternoon.
The Lady Bucks fell in the first set 25-11 but bounced back for a big 25-23 win in the second. They battled hard but dropped the third set 25-17. Fighting to stay alive in the championship hunt, they got close in the fourth but fell in a nail biter 25-23.
The loss dropped them into the fifth-place bracket on Saturday where they dispatched #7 Piute in four sets and Manila in a hard-fought battle that went the distance to five sets. It’s the second year in a row Monticello defeated the Lady Mustangs to capture fifth place.
Shayla Pehrson led the team with a 92.8 serve percentage at the tournament. She also stroked 11 aces on the weekend. Hannah Barry was 90.7 percent with nine aces. AJ Young served 90.6 percent. Taylor Barry led the team with 13 aces.
Alise Lewis had an impressive 38 kills in the four tournament matches, AJ Young had 39, Taylor Barry hit 34, and Shayla Pehrson had 32.
Lewis also led with 61 digs on the weekend, Taylor Barry had 58, Pehrson got 41, and Young dug 40. Lewis collected ten blocks, Pehrson and Hannah Barry had six apiece, and Taylor Barry got three.
The tournament was a picture of the season as a whole, where Pehrson led with a 93.4 serve percentage with 38 aces in 304 attempts. Hannah Barry was 86.7 percent with 60 aces in 315 attempts. And Taylor Barry led the team with 68 aces.
Lewis had 170 kills on the season, Pehrson had 162, Taylor Barry 149, and Young 122. In the receiving game Taylor Barry was at the top of the list with 228 digs, but Lewis was right behind with 221.
Pehrson had 32 blocks, Lewis had 27, and Taylor Barry collected 13. The Lady Buckaroos will lose only one senior to graduation in Shayla Pehrson, so they’ll return a lot of experience and will be poised to make some noise in the 1A next season.