Girls volleyball: Syracuse emerges from tense sets to top Weber, grab a share in Region 1
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- Syracuse High’s Brinley Barkdull (12) directs the ball as Presley Worthington (6) watches in a Region 1 girls volleyball match against Weber on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Pleasant View. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber High’s Bradey Schiffman (1) rises for a swing as Syracuse blockers Addie Sanders (8) and Isla Jensen (10) extend for a challenge in a Region 1 girls volleyball match Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Pleasant View. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Syracuse High’s Bailey Blacker (22) lets out a yell during a point celebration against Weber in a Region 1 girls volleyball match Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Pleasant View. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber High’s Bradey Schiffman, left, directs the ball as Ava Heilig (6) tracks it during a Region 1 girls volleyball match against Syracuse on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Pleasant View. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber High’s Scarlett Smith sets the ball in a Region 1 girls volleyball match against Syracuse on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Pleasant View. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber High’s Avery Kotter (25 black) watches the ball go toward Syracuse’s Mindy McNeill (25 white) at the net in a Region 1 girls volleyball match Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Pleasant View. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber High players celebrate around Macie Broadbent (17) during a Region 1 girls volleyball match against Syracuse on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Pleasant View. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Syracuse High’s McKinley Barkdull pulls back to hit a serve against Weber in a Region 1 girls volleyball match Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Pleasant View. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber High’s Avery Kotter (25) sends the ball at Syracuse’s Miyah Lish (5) at the net during a Region 1 girls volleyball match Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Pleasant View. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Syracuse High’s Hailey Trejo directs the ball during a Region 1 girls volleyball match against Weber on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Pleasant View. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Syracuse High’s Mindy McNeill sets the ball in a Region 1 girls volleyball match against Weber on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Pleasant View. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber High’s Scarlett Smith receives a Syracuse ball in a Region 1 girls volleyball match Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Pleasant View. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
PLEASANT VIEW — In a girls volleyball match between Syracuse and Weber high schools, where each of the last three sets were decided by tight, 25-23 margins, it all came down to trust in the system for the Titans.
“It was close at the end there, but we tell them trust what you practice in the gym,” Syracuse coach Megan Allred said. “Sometimes that’s hard for them to learn and do, so I was proud of them for flipping it around and trusting that they should perform well in those tough situations.”
Syracuse earned at least a share of the Region 1 title with a scintillating 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23) victory over the Warriors on Tuesday.
It is the third straight region title for the Titans under their third-year head coach.
“Obviously there was a lot of pressure coming into this match, knowing it’s going to at least tie us for region, and it showed at times. Our goal is to win region every year,” Allred said. “The biggest thing for us right now is learning to play high-level volleyball. That’s what we want every time we come into a match.”
Senior setter Miyah Lish has been a big cog in the three-year Syracuse (16-5, 6-0 Region 1) streak.
“It’s awesome; it’s super fun. This team is so good. We have a lot of talent and I think it’s really cool,” Lish said.
On a team with the well-known Barkdull twins — Brinley and McKinley — Lish played a major role with 31 assists on Tuesday.
Brinley had 12 kills and McKinley threw down nine more. Junior middle Addie Sanders added eight more kills for the Titans.
“My passes were off a little bit, but they found ways to adjust, so I got assists and it helped keep us in system.” Lish said. “I thought it was a good game. It was super fun. We started off with a lot of good energy and I felt like we pushed through the adversity.”
After Syracuse dominated set one, Weber came from five points down in the second set to tie it at 21 before coming up just short.
Following the same pattern in the third set, the Warriors trailed by six points but this time rallied with a 14-6 spurt to prevail and avoid the sweep.
“Our girls started making errors … mindless playing. I tried to get them to recognize when situations are tough, we’ve got to restart and get our minds right,” Allred said. “We took some points off, then we were in a crappy place where we’re tied at 20s and they pulled away with it.
“We can’t make like 10 errors and hand the points. It’s not OK. Trying to eliminate their runs is the biggest thing we talked about at the break,” Allred said.
Lish had a take on what was going on from a player’s point of view between the third and fourth sets.
“As a team (in the third set) we started to go inward, but once we came back together as a team, we found we actually like each other,” Lish said. “In the fourth set, we were talking as teammates after every point … getting us all in the right mindset to continue being aggressive in every aspect of the game. Fight hard for every single point.”
Neither team led by more than two points in the entire tense fourth and final set.
“Every time we play Weber, we know it’s going to be a tough match because they’re always a good team and Renae (Birch) does a fine job coaching them,” Allred said. “We try to prepare for that and some of their big players and things we know they’re going to do.”
Weber’s (19-6, 5-2) big players included Bradey Schiffman with 17 kills and Scarlett Smith with 20 assists.
“We played good today. It came down to some service errors. Props to Syracuse. They’re a really good team. Their outsides (Barkdulls and Sanders) are super tall and hard to stop,” Birch said. “Our goal was to force them out of system and we did that. We were scrappy and just fell short.
“It came down to the last two points and they played cleaner than we did,” Birch said.
Lish also had three aces and said the Titans wanted to “hit it deep and hard to keep them out of system” on serves.
Weber’s Macie Broadbent helped her team respond to that focus with 16 digs.
Allred said a region title is important and hopefully helps the Titans bond and build for deep run in the state playoffs.
“They’ve learned how to trust each other and it’s showed over the years. Every region title is super special,” Allred said.
Bob Judson has covered high school sports for the Standard-Examiner for 51 years.
