LAYTON — With only one senior starter, the Lancers are experiencing growing pains.
But that is no excuse for not executing the fundamentals. Simply put, if you can’t pass the ball you shouldn’t expect to win.
Layton High failed to protect its home court Tuesday, falling to Pleasant Grove 25-20, 25-12, 25-22 in a one hour and six minute non-league match.
“Pleasant Grove had a lot of offensive weapons and it took us too long to figure it out on defense,” said Layton coach Ricci Vowles. “We came back, but it was too late.”
The Lancers (6-5 overall) rallied from an 18-8 Set 3 deficit.
“No, I don’t like getting swept on our home floor,” Vowles said. “You’re supposed to protect your home floor. Serving and serve-receive, we didn’t do very well. We had some sparks at the end, but again, it was too late. Pleasant Grove ran a quick offense and we had a hard time finding them.
“I liked our comeback in Set 3,” she said. “It showed some heart, but I would rather not get that far behind. We started to show what we’re capable of midway through Set 3.”
A combo block by Eliza Katoa and Grace Borges ignited Layton, which took a short-lived 22-21 lead.
“From the Woods Cross match (a four-set road win on Aug. 28), this was a step back in passing and serving,” Vowles said. “We have a young team, which is willing to do the work to get better. We’re a work in progress, and hopefully, we’ll get better before Region 1 starts (Sept. 11).”
Katoa had 15 kills, three solo blocks, five digs and one ace. Corinne Rhoton had four kills, one block assist and one ace; Rylee Cate had four kills; and setter Mckell Moss had 21 assists, one kill and four digs for the Lancers, who had three aces and committed eight service errors.
“I have seen improvement in the past two weeks, and with another two weeks and this weekend’s (Rocky Mountain Champions Classic) tournament, we’ll be better,” Vowles said. “We’ll work on confidence and communication, but we’re not there yet.”
• davis def. brighton 25-17, 26-24, 25-19: At Salt Lake City, the defending state 5-A champion Darts remained undefeated, extending their winning streak to 26 consecutive matches.
BYU commit Camille Walker had 14 kills and Utah State commit Kaylie Kamalu had nine kills for Davis (13-0).
• fremont def. box elder 25-19, 25-21, 25-23: At Brigham City, the Silver Wolves’ Jessica Quayle had eight kills and three block assists; Brooke Lamb had nine kills and three block assists; setter McKenzie Burrows had 27 assists and three aces; and libero Sariah Pelaez had 10 digs, three assists and two aces for Fremont (7-4).
The Bees’ Mallory Mueller had five kills; Amanda Berchtold had four kills; and setter Mitzi Munns had 15 assists, five kills, two block assists, seven digs and three aces for Box Elder (5-7), not counting last weekend’s Highland (Idaho) tournament.
Region 17
• St. Joseph def. West Ridge 25-9, 25-3, 25-11: At West Jordan, the four-time defending regular-season champion Jayhawks swept their season opener.
Britt Sederholm had six kills and five aces; Audra Thurston had four kills, three solo blocks and four aces; Jessie Bischoff had four kills and three aces; setter Bailey Pacheco had 11 assists; and libero Mady White had seven aces for St. Joseph.
“We have an eight-team league, so we’re allowed 14 matches and two tournaments or 15 matches and one tournament,” said St. Joseph coach Ray Franklin. “We have our tournaments later, and this is the latest we’ve ever started.
“You can only practice for so long. The girls want to compete,” he said. “Having this match under our sleeves, we weren’t polished. But we were ready and excited to play.”
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