San Juan volleyball team takes down Monticello in rematch

The volleyball rematch between the San Juan Broncos and Monticello Buckaroos began with an exciting opening set this past Tuesday, September 14 in the SJHS gymnasium in Blanding.

The fans were hyped on both sides and energy was high. San Juan jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Monticello started communicating and got a side-out from a Taylor Lewis push to the far corner. The duo of Alise Lewis and Ali Barry denied the Bronco offense to tie the game at 4-all.

Another exciting kill from freshman Lewis put the Bucks up 6-4. Following a San Juan timeout, the Broncos rallied to tie 7-7 with a convincing kill into the block by Kinley Noyes.

A successful serve from Abi Christensen ended with a gimme kill at the net by Ali Barry, putting MHS back up 9-7. Then Noyes tipped it over the block for a Bronco side-out.

The team of Barry and Jessi Slack block Noyes for a Buckaroo side-out. The Bucks were up by as much as three points, but the Broncos tied it again at 13. A kill from Lewis stopped the Bronco run and brought it back to Monticello advantage.

Kaeahliya Howard put up a convincing kill in the middle for San Juan, following a perfect assist by setter Avina Cordova.

The Broncos took advantage of a Monticello squad struggling to receive serves to increase their lead to 19-14 before the Bucks managed to get the serve back.

Setter Bailey Brown struggled to get a good pass from her team but kept hustling. Jacobsen got a kill in the middle to bring the score to 21-17 SJHS.

At that point, the teams traded service errors to bring the score to 22-18 San Juan. Noyes hit into the blocker to see the ball fall straight down on the Buckaroo court – 23-19 Broncos.

Service errors by both teams then brought the score to 24-20 – game point for San Juan. Monticello hit the ball out to give San Juan the first set.

For the remainder of the night, the Bucks never managed to recover mentally. San Juan dominated the next two sets 25-8 and 25-6, giving the home team their revenge.

Juniors Noyes and Jacobsen continued to kill with ten and six on the night respectively. Five ace serves from Bailey Brown gave the Broncos momentum.

Junior Howard led the way in defensive digs with seven on the night. Consistent serve-receives from Noyes and Maycee Conway kept the San Juan offense on the attack. Setter Bailey Brown had 14 assists for kills and Avina Cordova gave eight sets for kills on the night.

Following the rivalry win, the Broncos traveled to Beaver on Thursday, September 16 to take on the Beavers in a 2A Region 19 matchup.

Starting off the first set, Jacobsen got a nice kill in the middle followed by a great block from Jaci Su’esu’e. Su’esu’e also got a kill on the next play. But Beaver matched the Broncos point-for-point.

Cordova served an ace followed by a Su’esu’e kill. Cordova dribbled another over the net for an ace. Su’esu’e killed again in the middle. Beaver’s Talia Alisa tipped it to bring the serve back to the home court.

Bailey Brown hit a close angle that was unanswered by Beaver. Brown then dug leading to a great backset from Cordova to Howard for the kill.

Brown then tipped for a kill and Howard tipped to the hole twice for two kills. Brown served an ace to force the home team to take a timeout.

Following the timeout, Beaver rallied with a kill in the middle to take the serve back. Cordova killed into the block with an assist from Brown.

The duo of Noyes and Jacobsen blocked the attack. Howard served an ace. Beaver tipped twice for successful kills. Noyes hit a hard one that ricocheted off the block for a kill.

San Juan battled to win the opening set 25-23. Unfortunately, Beaver bested them in the next three sets to take the match 3-1.

The Broncos stayed overnight to face the South Sevier Rams in Monroe Saturday, September 18. The Rams took the first set 25-20, then the Broncos came alive in the second to win 25-16.

But the home team took the next two sets 25-14 each to win the match 3-1. San Juan ended the week 4-8 overall and 0-3 in region play. They’re currently ranked 19th in the 2A RPI standings.

This week is homecoming for San Juan High School, but it’s a pretty light week for the volleyball team. They hosted Parowan in another region match on Tuesday, September 21.

Following their tough loss to San Juan, Monticello traveled to Price to take on 1A Region 23 opponent Pinnacle on Thursday, September 16.

The match was unremarkable as the Panthers were simply not competitive. But the Buckaroos had fun and enjoyed some much-needed team time with little pressure.

Following the win in Price, MHS is 5-10 overall and 2-0 in the region, ranked #14 in the 1A RPI. Just like San Juan, the team had just one game at home this week, with Monument Valley on Tuesday, September 21.