Girls volleyball: With effort in inches, Ogden proving it can recover quickly in nonregion play
Tigers capture seventh win in five-set thriller with Northridge of 5A
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- Ogden’s Millie Nadolski, left, greets Cambri White, right, after a point scored pictured during a girls volleyball contest with Northridge on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, at Ogden High School in Ogden. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
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- Ogden’s Hazel Nadolski pictured during a girls volleyball contest with Northridge on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, at Ogden High School in Ogden. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
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- Ogden’s Millie Nadolski, 21, tips the ball toward Northridge’s Morgan Hale, 12, and Brooklyn Mayfield, 2, during a girls volleyball contest on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, at Ogden High School in Ogden. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
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- Ogden’s Kaydree Crowther tips the ball toward Northridge’s Payton White during a girls volleyball contest on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, at Ogden High School in Ogden. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
OGDEN – Not quite as long as last year, the Ogden High girls volleyball team rightfully bullish about the authority it brings to the net.
Drawing the line after four sets, Tiger sister-teammates Hazel and Millie Nadolski were a thorn in the side of 5A Northridge, rallying just short of its first win of the season on Tuesday while conceding Ogden’s seventh this month.
Standing at 6-foot-3, Hazel Nadolski proved an especially tricky challenge for Kait Hyde’s program, surrendering a fifth consecutive loss (25-18, 14-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-8) despite some fourth-set heroics by senior Morgan Hale and sophomore Aurora Snyder. The eldest Nadolski answered with four kills and a pair of serving aces in that fifth and final set, where Ogden finally “fought through (its) funk,” the junior said.
“We had to come back with a lot more energy,” Nadolski said. “The student section was a lot bigger than it usually is, which is nice… We had a lot of momentum on our side.”
The home crowd was certainly impressive, and while Nadolski and Hale were among those generating the buzz from the server’s line, Ogden’s (7-2) already enjoyed some intense matches with eight different contests already in the books entering Tuesday’s home bout with the Knights (0-5).
Down five points in the fourth set, Ogden rallied back within three but Bianca Merrill’s match point forced a first-to-15 scenario. A five-set win over Davis brought a similar fervor to the gym in just the second regular-season match, Ogden coach Tim Wright said.
Nadolski earned 19 kills, seven digs and three aces. Cambri White tallied six kills and three blocks; Juliet Knowles finished with 10 digs, five kills and three aces.
“We always tell them this: volleyball is a short game,” Wright said. “We don’t want to focus on that end goal, we want to focus on point to point. One thing that’s nice about the game to 15 is it really makes it feel shorter, and it’s a little easier to maintain throughout.”
Building the wall
While the older Nadolski has carved out a role for herself on the outside, the younger Millie, a sophomore, is becoming a frustrating factor for the attack when paired with fellow sophomore Juliet Knowles as two agile blockers.
Wright enjoys having the sister-teammate combo on the floor and is watching the duo grow each week.
“She’s becoming really smart,” Wright said of Hazel. “She’s making sure to use (her) shots and keep their defense on their toes. (Millie) is doing a great job of keeping her presence on the net and letting her opponent know they’ve gotta swing around her if they want a point.”
Height is a legitimate concern for Ogden, but returning sophomore Kaydree Crowther, earning match point in the fifth set, and senior Therisa Tupu, drawing the deciding point, were still quick enough to evade Northridge and go 2-for-2 in Tuesday’s win. The Crowther name is compatible with Ogden volleyball, too, with Kaydree’s older siblings having all played for the boys squad during the 2025 season, and again with just Keen and Kos last spring.
Kaydree’s picked up a thing or two from her brothers along the way. The sophomore’s caught Wright’s eye through the first few weeks of the season.
“Kaydree is a great athlete,” Wright said. “She might not be as long and tall as some of the other players, she is smart, she’s able to work around the block against girls who are much taller and she swings away,” Wright said. “She does a great job.”
Up next
Rebounding from a 3-0 sweep to North Summit, Ogden is a seven-win program with three matches to go on the nonregion calendar.
Entering Thursday’s road trip to Juan Diego, the Hazel Nadolski is looking for her team to exert more in every little thing they do.
“We need to continue being more aggressive toward everything,” Nadolski said. “Swinging for balls, being aggressive, I think it’s going to continue keeping our energy level and bringing more hype.”
Thursday’s match is slated for 6:30 p.m. in Draper.
Connect with Standard-Examiner sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram @standardexaminersports.
