Monticello volleyball upsets San Juan 

“You could hear the cheers from inside the Monticello High School gymnasium throughout San Juan County,” reported Redrock Radio after the Buckaroos upset the San Juan Broncos in a home court rivalry match Tuesday, August 31.

The Broncos had bested the Buckaroos in straight sets at the Dixie Fly High Invitational the weekend before in St. George. But the hometown crowd turned up the volume and never let up. 

Junior Jade Nielson got the Bucks started with good serving. Senior Athea Ford attacked a great set from Taylor Barry for the first kill for MHS. But Kinley Noyes made an unanswerable kill for the Broncos and assisted in a convincing block with Jaci Su’esu’e. 

Monticello’s Ali Barry then answered with a kill and Ford served three straight. Then San Juan’s Su’esu’e had a successful kill followed by another from Noyes and two straight serves from Noyes.

The teams were neck-and-neck at 11-all, bringing the crowd to their feet after a long super-volley found the ball falling on the San Juan side. The fans were pumped.

Noyes got another decisive slam to the floor, lighting a fire on the opposing bench, while Jessi Slack of the Bucks enjoyed a great block to rally the home team. San Juan called a time out with the Bucks leading 17 to 14. The student section rocked the house with “our team is Dynamite!” 

The home team continued to serve well while the visitors had more service errors in the set. When Bailey Brown would set for a perfect approach, Noyes and Macy Jacobsen would send it to the floor on Monticello’s side.

But senior Saydi Young got two quick kills with strategic tips to the hole. Rosy Beh served three in a row, so San Juan called another time out when the score was 21 to 17.

Coming back to the court, Abbi Christensen served three in a row starting with an ace. The match ended with an ace serve from Ford for the Buckaroo win 25 to 20 in the first set. 

In the second set, the stunned Broncos regrouped. They were meeting a new team, not the one they had skunked last week. Maycee Conway served very consistently to put the Broncos in the lead. Noyes and Jacobsen continued to hammer the ball. Su’esu’e used the block for her kills.  

MHS didn’t lay down, however. Nielson and Ford continued to serve well. Slack and Ali Barry continued to put up a great defense at the net. Taylor Lewis had a hard attempt that was sent back over for a Slack kill, slamming the unprepared defense on the Bronco side.  

Noyes served consistently for San Juan while Kylie Rogers and Beh served well for the Bucks. Lewis had a kill thru the block and Rogers blocked one. Ali Barry had a successful block defending from Jacobsen, but the Broncos bested the Bucks with their offense 25 to 21 in the second set. 

The third set saw more errors on both sides, follies coming from some fatigue. But the exciting blocks, kills, and digs kept coming from both determined teams. The Broncos called key time outs, while leading 18-13 and again at the critical 24-22 juncture to beat the home team 25 to 22 in a close third set. 

The Buckaroo crowd would not let the ladies give up. Althougth the Bronco defense continued to be consistent with digging by Kaeahliyah Howard, Naataanii Lacy, Avina Cordova and Bailey Brown, the Buckaroos kept pace.

When the score was tied at 17 in the fourth set, Monticello rallied ahead mostly by errors on both sides, but broke it open when Kylie Rogers slammed a bad pass to the open corner. Errors back and forth brought the score to 23-all.

The Broncos had a game point serve only to lose it to an Ali Barry tip into the block that was dug and set out of bounds…24-all. The next serve by Nielson saw the Broncos mount six offensive attacks at the net only to be stymied by the Buckaroos. A decent setup allowed middle hitter Rogers to put it over in the middle, a place San Juan couldn’t defend.  

Game point for the Buckaroos came when Nielson’s serve was passed badly and Rogers sent a decisive slam to the back row, ricocheting out of play. The home team was victorious 26-24, forcing a fifth set.

San Juan had the serve to open the set, but lost advantage to a net error by the defense. Nielson served three straight, unanswered by the San Juan offense, and Ford got the kill. The next serve by Nielson was an ace in the center – 6-0 Bucks. 

Broncos rally with a kill tip by Noyes only to send it back to Monticello on a communication error. The Bucks increased their lead to 8-2 when a serve by Rogers was unreturned.

Then Noyes got the kill to give the serve back to the Broncos. A tip on the second touch by Brown found the Bucks flatfooted, followed by a Bronco service error. The Bucks held the lead, 9-4.

Errors on both sides brought the score to 10-7, Monticello. Christensen and Ford served consistently while Lewis got a kill utilizing the block. Ali Barry got a big kill, but Noyes answered to earn a side out for the Broncos with the score 12-8. 

San Juan continued to rally to pull to within two, 12-10, and Buckaroo Coach Kelli Keyes called a time out to stop the bleeding.

A Bronco service error gave Monticello a 13-10 lead. The Buckaroos got an ace serve by Beh to move to 14-10. On game point, Brown tried to scoop it off the block but was unable, sending it out, giving set victory to MHS, 15-10, and match 3-2.

No doubt the Broncos will be ready for vengeance when they host the Buckaroos in Blanding Tuesday September 14.