Clearfield tops Roy as boys volleyball finds footing in Northern Utah’s prep sports scene
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- Clearfield’s Sebastian Rodriguez, left, fires a hit past Roy blockers in a boys volleyball match Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Clearfield.
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- Roy’s Trey Sandoval (17) sets the ball as Will Coburn (3) tracks it during a boys volleyball match at Clearfield on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
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- Clearfield’s Gabe Christensen rears back for a hit in a boys volleyball match against Roy on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Clearfield.
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- Roy’s Braxton Harrison rises for a hit against Clearfield in a boys volleyball match Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Clearfield.
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- Clearfield’s Mason Alvord serves against Roy in a boys volleyball match Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Clearfield.
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- Roy’s Finn Nakasone (21) sets the ball while Evan Wiggins looks on during a boys volleyball match at Clearfield on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
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- Clearfield’s Sebastian Rodriguez (8) fires a spike against Roy’s Braxton Harrison (27) and Ethan Casper (30) in a boys volleyball match Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Clearfield.
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- Roy’s Will Coburn sets a ball against Clearfield during a boys volleyball match Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Clearfield.
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- Clearfield’s Gabe Christensen serves against Roy in a boys volleyball match Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Clearfield.
CLEARFIELD — It didn’t take long for the Clearfield High boys volleyball team to buy into having a young woman as their coach.
“We (the women coaches) played against them the first couple of open gyms and then I think they respected us,” Falcon head coach Brooke Pehrson said with a smile.
Pehrson also coaches the girls volleyball team at Clearfield. She prepped at Syracuse and went on to play college ball at Idaho State University.
When the UHSAA decided to sanction boys volleyball as a varsity sport beginning this spring, Pehrson wanted to be the coach to launch a new program.
She was a coach in search of a team, starting from ground zero.
“In the preseason, before tryouts, we had one boy who had played at a club level,” Pehrson said. “Outside of that I had to really recruit other athletes at our school, so I got a couple of our basketball players, a couple of kids who usually play soccer, so that was the biggest thing. I told my coaching staff we needed to get athletes in the gym and that we could coach them how to play volleyball.”
With a steep learning curve, Pehrson relied on her background and incorporated her experienced girls team into the mix.
“I had them come and teach the boys broken lines and things like that so they could see and have somebody there helping them,” Pehrson said.
Things have worked out pretty well so far, and the Falcons (6-5, 2-2 Region 5) swept Roy in three straight sets (25-15, 25-21, 25-21) on Tuesday evening.
“It was super important for us to come back and play to our level after we lost last week to Woods Cross,” Pehrson said. “Good to see them play to the level we know they should.”
Clearfield comfortably won the first set but trailed 18-17 in the second after giving up four consecutive points, when Pehrson called a timeout.
“Right now what we struggle with is finding ways to be sharp no matter who is on the other side of the net,” Pehrson said. “We made lots of errors and kept losing points. We know we’re a good team and should be playing at a high level.”
The Falcons closed the second set on an 8-3 run and opened the third stanza on a 5-0 start, and flew on to the win.
Roy (3-10, 0-4) has a different scenario in beginning its boys volleyball program.
Where Pehrson is a local product, Roy head coach Wyle Williams is relatively new to the area, having mentored girls volleyball teams in Missouri before coming to Utah two years ago for work.
Still, knowing it would be a challenge, Williams applied for and got the job.
“Of the 24 kids we have, only four have any volleyball experience; they have to learn this is a game of ebbs and flows, a game of ups and downs, and we have yet to weather those storms,” Williams said.
“We recruited Dahlen Pontius from the basketball team and it’s his first time ever playing volleyball. We have a number of kids doing track and hopefully they fall in love with volleyball.”
The Royals have a tendency to fall behind early and struggle to get back in the match, and that trend continued Tuesday.
“We start slow and dig ourselves such a hole we can’t get out of it,” Williams said. “I’ve been frustrated because I want them to see success and success to them is winning matches and that’s not happening right now for us.”
There has to be a winner and a loser in every match and Williams feels his team is improving as the season goes on.
“It’s been fun. I’ve got a good group of young men who come in and work hard every day, so continued progress is going to happen,” Williams said. “I saw where they started and see where they are now and the skillset is improving.
“They’re disappointed because they expect to win and they’re competitors. We talk about winning the game regardless what the score is. Playing our best, giving 110%. If they do that they can be proud of what they have done.”
While Roy hopes for a better future, Pehrson and the Falcons feel like they are in a good place.
“We’re trying to implement the mindset that Clearfield can have success, that we have athletes here,” Pehrson said.