MORGAN — A few butterflies and a little rust notwithstanding, the Morgan Trojans are still the class of Region 11 and showed it in a 25-15, 25-17, 25-6 sweep of Ben Lomond on Tuesday.
Cassidee Lish had nine kills, seven aces and three digs, while Amanda Porter contributed seven digs and 25 assists to lead the two-time defending state 3-A champion Trojans. McKenzie Schenk added nine kills for Morgan and libero Shaylie Duncan finished with 12 digs.
Early on, the Trojans’ hitting and service errors were allowing the Scots to keep the score close. Ben Lomond even led 8-7 in Set 2 before eventually trailing off. When Morgan finally found its rhythm in Set 3, the Scots could do nothing to stop the momentum.
“We just don’t seem to flow like we should yet,” Morgan coach Liz Wiscombe said. “So we’ll work on that. Our hitters kind of struggled at the first, but then they started to pound the ball. It’s the first home game and everybody’s excited and there’s a lot of jitters. There’s a lot to play for at Morgan and there’s a little pressure to shine. But I think they came along.”
Kyra Mathews, Natalie Ruiz, McKenzey Bingham and Chakira Walls-Woods all played well for the Scots (3-9 overall), who dropped their first league match after opening Region 11 play with a 3-0 sweep of crosstown rival Ogden on Thursday.
The Trojans, meanwhile, are still getting used to each other. They didn’t play in any preseason tournaments — they’re saving those for the end of the year — so Tuesday’s match was just their second of the season.
Wiscombe believes that with a little time, this team will be just fine.
“Our passing, our serve-receiving was good and I was really excited about that,” Wiscombe said. “And we’re trying to serve more aggressively, so you’re going to get a few errors. Hopefully, we’ll get that cleaned up by the middle of the season. We’re just starting out. They’re a good group of kids and they like each other and they’re not afraid of work. So I think they’ll be OK. It’s going to be a fun year.”
Morgan will have to play most or perhaps all of the season without Kristi Rhead. A key starter from a year ago, the junior broke her foot over the summer and there is no timetable for her return.
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