Girls volleyball: McArthur and Fremont finding ‘the middle ground’ amid winning stretch
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- Fremont High players huddle between points during a Region 5 girls volleyball match against Roy on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Roy High’s Kayzli Wilberg (31) swings for a hit against Fremont blockers Kambry Davis (15) and Kylee Harper (3) during a Region 5 girls volleyball match Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Fremont High’s Mia McArthur rises to hit a serve during a Region 5 girls volleyball match against Roy on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Roy High’s Marlie Bradford (8) sends the ball over the net against Fremont’s Mia McArthur (2) during a Region 5 girls volleyball match Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Fremont High’s Brooklyn Smedley (7) sets the ball against Roy during a Region 5 girls volleyball match Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Roy High’s Marlie Bradford (8) sets the ball in front of teammate Sarah Morgan during a Region 5 girls volleyball match Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Fremont High’s Kambry Davis (15) finishes a swing against Roy blocker Kayzli Wilberg (31) and Caedynce Shepard (9) during a Region 5 girls volleyball match Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Roy High’s Amelia Bell sets up her serve during a Region 5 girls volleyball match against Fremont on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Roy High players celebrate a point during a Region 5 girls volleyball match against Fremont on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Fremont High’s Daphne Moyes sets the ball during a Region 5 girls volleyball match against Roy on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Fremont High’s Morgan Dabb reaches to receive the ball against Roy during a Region 5 girls volleyball match Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Fremont High’s Ellie McArthur (22) watches her ball hit off the tape against Roy blockers Ariona Shepard (24) and Caedynce Shepard (9) during a Region 5 girls volleyball match Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Roy. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
ROY — After a tough start to its season, Fremont volleyball has found success working in the margins, which has led to a comfortable landing right down the middle.
“Don’t worry about mistakes so much. Let them come if they come, but learn from them,” Fremont coach Analaine Mailoto said. “Play in the gray part of volleyball, not the black and white. You’re not going to be perfect, so play in the in-between zone.
“I’m okay with imperfections, just work together to make those imperfections lesser,” Mailoto said.
So far, so good, as Fremont actually remained perfect in Region 5 play, with a straight set 3-0 (25-18, 25-10, 25-11) victory over Roy on Tuesday.
The Silverwolves (9-5, 5-0 Region 5) opened the season 4-5, but now only have one game left against Box Elder to complete the first half of the league schedule with a clean slate.
“We had a little bit of a rough start. We have a lot of returning seniors this year and they were putting a lot of pressure on themselves, thinking they had to be perfect and couldn’t make mistakes,” Mailoto said. “Once they worked through the nerves of being a senior for a second, they steadied out.”
Steady as in Fremont has lost only one set total in its five region matches.
“Sometimes it might go four and we lose a set, but if you stay steady and work through it, your outcome might be better than if you get stressed and try to work extra,” Mailoto said. “You try too hard, it backfires; if you don’t try hard enough it backfires. Just get in that middle ground.”
Fremont won the first two sets behind the service game of Mia McArthur, who had a 5-0 run in set one and a 4-0 stint in set two.
“I was just serving where my coach told me to and it ended up working out for us,” McArthur said. “We were scrappy and didn’t let the ball drop, so that helps.”
Mailoto holds her hands behind her back and signals by calling the serves to zone one or zone two.
“I give them two options. There is a deep zone and there is a short zone. If I do this (rolls fingers and clenches her fist), it’s between the two zones,” Mailoto said. “I try to find a passer that’s struggling and keep picking on them the rest of the match. Sometimes it works and sometimes they figure it out and we have to switch it up and go to the next one.”
Set three followed the pattern of the other two and the Silverwolves got the sweep.
“We played good together as a team. We had some good passes, which got us good sets and got good kills after that,” McArthur said. (Mailoto) gives us a short serve and a deep serve and it’s up to us to choose. I went deep today like I normally do.”
McArthur finished Tuesday with four aces and six kills, while Kylee Harper had two aces and nine kills for Fremont.
Libero Daphnie Moyes served one ace and went low for 12 digs and Brooklyn Smedley filled the stat sheet with two aces, three kills and 23 assists. Ellie McArthur had nine kills for the Silverwolves.
“Our season started off a little more rocky than we wanted, but we’re playing together now and having lots of fun,” Mia McArthur said. “This is our last year, so we’ve got to give it our all.” Mia McArthur said.
Roy (4-6, 1-5) was paced by Sarah Morgan who had six kills and 12 digs. Lilliana Solomona added five kills, but the Royals needed more against a talented, senior-laden Fremont squad.
“We have two young setters, a sophomore setting varsity (Caedynce Shepard) and a freshman setter (Millee Keith) who got some time tonight,” Roy coach Amanda Lamb said. “We’re not as consistent as we need to be yet, but we’re working really hard every day in practice.”
The Silverwolves, meanwhile have put the past behind them and learned the lessons that have led to leading the region at this point.
“We had hard games at the beginning of the season, which were good for us to get going. I like to play tough teams. We play most of our old Region 1 teams. They’re close by and they’re competitive,” Mailoto said. “I like to focus on our side, teach mental toughness and have energy; don’t be pouty, and control the things we can.”
Bob Judson has covered high school sports for the Standard-Examiner for 51 years.
