Monument Valley volleyball finishes seventh at state

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
With their 15-9 record the Monument Valley High School volleyball team entered the 2024 1A Utah State Volleyball Tournament as the #3 seed, earning a bye in the first round.
They began play in the second round this past Friday, November 1 against #14 Tintic, and they promptly handled the Lady Miners in straight sets 25-19, 25-18, and 25-17.
The win moved the Lady Cougars into the state quarterfinals where they faced a tough sixth-ranked Milford squad. Monument Valley battled hard but fell in straight sets to the Lady Tigers 25-16, 25-23, and 25-18.
The loss dropped the team into the fifth-place bracket where they put together a nice bounce-back match against #10 Wayne, winning the best-of-three in straight sets 26-24 and 25-19.
The win meant the Lady Cougars were the only team representing San Juan County still in action for a fourth and final match on Saturday, November 2.
Against #8 Rich in the Fifth-Place Match Monument Valley again left it all on the court but suffered a straight-sets loss to the Lady Rebels 25-21 and 25-15, finishing seventh in the state.
The Lady Cougars closed out an excellent season with a 16-11 overall record. It’s the best record for the team since they went 11-5 in 2019 and their best finish in the state tournament since they finished fifth in 2018.
Though it was a complete team effort, there were several standout performances. Freshman Naomi White led the team with a .498 hitting percentage. Junior Dakotah Cly hit .447 on the season, senior Shaundin Blackwater hit .382, and senior Sloane Sheppard hit .353.
Among the Monument Valley players who served on a regular basis this year junior Ayainna Cly led the team with an 87.3 serve percentage. White served 84.9 percent, Sheppard 82.4, and Blackwater 79.1.
White sported a very solid 40.2 ace percentage, Blackwater stood at 27.9 percent, Sheppard had a 26.7 percentage, and Cly got a 24.3.
Senior Kaylisa Tome averaged 4.8 assists per set and Cly weighed in with 3.2. Senior Shilah Williams averaged an impressive seven digs per match and 2.3 per set. And White averaged 1.9 blocks per match.