Girls volleyball: Layton bounces back from skid, outlasts West Field for second road win
Henry, Lancers end West Field's hot start with 4-set victory in Taylor
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- Layton’s Lexie Moss serves during a nonregion volleyball contest at West Field on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Taylor.
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- Layton gathers during a nonregion volleyball during a nonregion volleyball contest at West Field on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Taylor.
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- West Field’s Bella Alverson, middle, strikes between Layton’s Kaymbree Henry, left, and Myla Andrade during a nonregion volleyball contest on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Taylor.
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- West Field’s Aliyah Mann serves during a nonregion volleyball contest vs. Layton on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Taylor.
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- Layton’s Suzanne Hill focuses in during a nonregion volleyball contest at West Field on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Taylor.
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- West Field stands for the national anthem before a nonregion volleyball contest vs. Layton on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Taylor.
TAYLOR — Layton and Weber State alum Hannah DeYoung returned a particularly young roster to her prep alma mater’s girls volleyball roster in her fourth season as head coach this month.
With it came a 3-0 sweep at Morgan to begin the season on high, and a subsequent 0-2 skid entering the week.
The Lancers went five sets with Copper Hills at home and dropped to 1-2 overall last Thursday, and flirted with, but ultimately evaded, the same result Tuesday at West Field.
Layton preserved a two-set lead, conceding the third and escaping with the fourth for their second win.
West Field, led by junior outside hitter Ainsley Schiffman with 18 digs and 11 kills, made the evening’s final pair interesting, seizing possession trailing 24-20 in the fourth set. But junior middle blocker Jamie Vowles was there for Layton on the game’s final serve, preserving the match for DeYoung and the Lancers in four sets (25-21, 25-12, 13-25, 25-21).
Layton junior middle blocker Kaymbree Henry led the floor with 14 kills, senior outside hitter Danelle McKellar added eight, and senior outside hitter Ella Berry tallied another seven. Junior outside hitter Ella Berry and freshman hitter-blocker Kennedy Henry chipped in four kills apiece.
“After losing that third set, I told them to just forget about it and move on,” DeYoung said. “I feel like we were focused and disciplined from the beginning and didn’t let past mistakes affect what we were doing. Hats off to West Field, they played a really consistent (third set), but, ultimately, we just reset in between there and then came out aggressive.”
Schiffman certainly took the lead in West Field’s comeback, but hardly fulfilled her performance alone as the Longhorns looked to preserve an impressive 2-0 start, with wins over Davis and Weber in last week’s season debut.
Senior outside hitter Paige Butler added 17 digs and seven kills to the effort, and junior Kalli Bremser finished with another six kills and four aces in completing the late stand.
West Field’s first loss of the season didn’t leave second-year head coach Jantzen Ryan perturbed. Instead, Jantzen, a former coach and alum of Fremont, said Tuesday’s finish revealed some of the preseason’s most intense volleyball yet.
“I would say the fourth set, we played a bit more skillfully than the first two,” Jantzen said. “But the best set, mentally, was for sure our third. It’s for sure the tightest, most nervous match we’ve played. Third set, our strong suit was we talked; we just said, ‘Hey, we’re going to focus on our teammates, on our family and focus on having fun in the game,’ and we rocked the third.”
Like DeYoung, Jantzen can count her seniors on one hand: Butler and middle blocker Bella Alverson. West Field’s senior duo is accompanied by Schiffman, Bremser and junior hitter Halia Fonotisatele as Jantzen’s core of returning varsity experience.
A year deep, Jantzen and the Longhorns are working on far more familiar terms following a 15-16 finish to the program’s unconventional inaugural campaign last fall.
“All the girls on the team are doing a very good job of getting to know each other; it’s not just seniors or freshmen,” Jantzen said. “They’re making a point to get to know and be friends with every single person on the team. I think that’s what’s made us — this is probably one of our hardest nights, but even then, I feel like we had some great moments.”
Connect with reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.
