Fremont coach Analaine Mailoto, a Southern Utah alum in her fourth year with the Silverwolves, and Syracuse coach Megan Allred, a St. Mary’s alum in just her second with the Titans, led their respective alma mater onto the court Tuesday for a noisy, five-set finish that favored the Titans (25-19, 26-28, 25-18, 20-25, 15-5).

“This is how it should be,” Mailoto said. “We have a lot more fans this year with the later varsity start times. Kids can come after practices, parents can get here after work and so it’s been really cool and the whole environment, all the girls are so positive. It makes everything easier.”

“Our goal is to involve the community more,” Allred added. “It’s super fun to have a crowd. The girls work hard, so they deserve that recognition.”

Led by returners Brinley Barkdull (14 kills, one ace) and Emily Kenison (12 kills, three digs), Syracuse (3-2) scooped a third consecutive win Tuesday to snap Fremont’s 10-match winning streak on the heels of consecutive shutouts against Herriman and at Northridge last week.

Fremont led by as much as eight in the fourth set and held on as the Titans closed in within five but couldn’t avoid a fifth set. Tied at two sets apiece, Syracuse garnered a five-point lead en route to a 15-5 tiebreaker in the final set of the match.

“The girls were definitely mindful that Fremont was undefeated coming into this,” Allred said. “They really wanted it. Last year, they took a match from us, and I think that’s where a bit of that fuel came from. We knew we had to play consistently high-level volleyball to win.”

Kylee Harper led Fremont with nine kills; Maya Jansen and Olivia Surrage tallied eight apiece. Jensen led the Silverwolves with four serving aces, Surrage added two, and Daphnie Moyes and Brooklyn Smedley penciled in one apiece.

Syracuse’s Avery Erickson padded the kill tally with 11 and McKinley Barkdull added 10. Presley Worthington led Syracuse with five aces.

A season ago, Fremont and Syracuse met three times (twice during the regular season and again during the 6A tournament consolation), with Allred’s team taking the season series 2-1.

The result aside, Mailoto left the match encouraged about not just the crowd size, but the mental tenacity of the group in front of her. Fremont opened the season by defeating Farmington, Weber and Layton consecutively, carrying that momentum into their annual home tournament for a 10-0 record entering the final week of August.

“You learn from losses if you want to,” Mailoto said. “Sometimes it’s OK to struggle a minute without struggling four points in a row. Even losing, they’re still being positive and still getting blocks, so those are the things we’re always looking for.”

Fremont finishes the week Thursday at Clearfield to open Region 5 play.

Syracuse hopes to clean up on the road again Thursday at Skyridge before heading south for the Utah Valley Invitational next week.

Connect with reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.