Monticello volleyball team wins six matches in busy past two weeks, looks for momentum heading into state tournament

The Monticello High School volleyball team has seen a lot of action over the course of the past two weeks. In the 15-day period starting September 29 the Buckaroos played 11 games, winning five and losing six.

The team beat Green River in four sets on September 29 in the MHS gymnasium. They lost set one 25-10 but rallied to win three sets in a row 25-19, 25-11, and 26-24.

Maron Freestone led the offense with 12 kills. Josie Mack had 24 assists and served one ace. Jane Burton led the defense with 14 digs in the win.

Monticello welcomed Monument Valley to town on September 30 for another Region 19 showdown with a local rival. Once again they earned a win in four sets in a match that was almost identical to the previous night.

Monument Valley took the first set in extra points 26-24, but the Buckaroos then took sets two, three, and four 25-14, 25-22, and 25-20.

Maron Freestone had 11 kills in the win with Katie Francom right behind with ten. Josie Mack assisted on 27 San Juan points and Avery Shanahan had 12 assists. Jane Burton served four aces for Monticello.

Shelby Rogers collected five blocks on the night and Josie Mack had four. Mack also led the team with 21 digs with Burton right behind with 20.

The Buckaroos continued to hang out in the win column when they beat Wayne 2-0 to open the 1A-2A Clash at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield on October 2. It was a hard-fought victory with Monticello winning set one 25-20 and set two 25-19.

This time Shelby Rogers led the offense with six kills and Katie Francom got five. Rogers also served three aces with Maron Freestone serving two. Josie Mack collected eight assists in the win.

On the defensive side Jane Burton had nine digs. Mack had seven and Eve Morrison got six. Maron Freestone and Shelby Rogers had one block each in the match.

Unfortunately the rest of the tournament wasn’t as friendly to the visitors from Monticello as they suffered losses to Valley, St. Joseph, and Piute before closing out the weekend with a straight-sets win over Water Canyon.

The Bucks took the first set against the Wildcats 25-15 and the second 25-20. Maron Freestone led with six kills while Katie Francom and Sloan Flinn had four apiece. Josie Mack had 11 asists in the win. Shelby Rogers served four aces with Freestone and Flinn getting two each.

Defensively Mack led Monticello with nine kills with Freestone registering seven and Jane Burton and Flinn collecting four apiece. Katie Francom got the only block in the match for the Buckaroos.

In the past week the team suffered back-to-back losses, in four sets at Cortez, CO on Tuesday, October 6 and in a five-set thriller at home against Monument Valley on Thursday, October 8.

In the final meeting with Monument Valley in the regular season the Cougars took the first set in an extra-point battle 28-26. Monticello rallied for a 26-24 win in the second set, also in extra points.

Monument Valley regained the advantage with a 25-20 win in set three, but again rallied to win set four 25-22, forcing a fifth and deciding set. The longtime rivals battled it out and it was Monument Valley still standing after the dust settled with a 15-9 win.

The losses dropped the Buckaroos below .500, but the team has shown resilience all season long. Looking for a strong finish to the regular season the girls mustered up back-to-back wins in their most recent matches.

On Friday, October 9 the team traveled to Price to take on the Pinnacle Panther. Monticello came out firing and swept the Panthers 25-7, 25-11, and 25-12. Then on Tuesday, October 13 they closed out their season series with local rival Whitehorse.

In what has become a familiar pattern the Raiders won set one but Monticello rallied to win the next three sets and take the victory.

With just one game left in the regular season the Buckaroos are two games above .500 at 13-11 and ranked tenth in the 1A standings. They’ll cross the state line on Thursday, October 15 to take on the Nucla Mustangs.

State seedings will be announced on Monday, October 19 with the tournament set to begin on Wednesday, October 21.