San Juan volleyball team rides win streak to second place in 2A

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
It has been a while since the San Juan High School volleyball team lost a game. They last suffered defeat on August 15 at the hands of 4A Uintah in the Spartan Challenge tournament in Murray.
Since then the Lady Broncos have won 11 games in a row, running their record to 15-4 overall and 9-0 in Region 18. They are ranked second in the Utah 2A standings behind only 18-2 North Summit.
San Juan has been simply dominant in the last five and a half weeks. Not only have they won 11 straight games, but they’ve lost only two sets in that time period, sweeping nine of 11 opponents.
In their most recent four matches they earned straight-sets wins over Kanab, Grand County, Beaver, and South Sevier.
All of those games except the Kanab game were on the road. In fact, five of their last six games have been away from the friendly confines of the San Juan High School gym.
On September 15 it was a hard-fought win over Kanab with finals of 25-21, 25-12, and 25-21. Faith Flannery led the offensive attack with 14 kills. Emri Black added ten kills of her own in the win.
Olivia Nielson assisted on 27 San Juan points and Adi Ivins led the team with four service aces. Ivins also led the defense with 13 digs and Taya Chamberlain blocked two Kanab shots.
On Tuesday, September 22 the Lady Broncos headed a few miles north to face longtime rival Grand County. They made quick work of the Lady Red Devils with 25-7, 25-12, and 25-14 wins.
Flannery led again with 18 kills and Kyliea Taylor collected ten. Nielson upped her assists-per-game average with 31 in the win. Aspyn Ivins served up five aces with Flannery adding four more.
Defensively Flannery paced San Juan with 11 digs. Aspyn Ivins had eight, Adi Ivins got seven, and Taylor had six. Three players had two digs each for the Lady Broncos: Havoc Laws, Emri Black, and Taya Chamberlain.
The girls hit the road for Beaver this past Friday, September 25, dominating the Lady Beavers 25-14, 25-11, and 25-8.
Flannery had 11 kills, Taylor collected nine, Black had seven, and Laws got five. Nielson added 28 more assists to her resume, and Aspyn Ivins served up five aces.
Adi Ivins led the team with 11 digs. Aspyn Ivins had five, while Nielson and Flannery collected four apiece in the win.
On Saturday, September 26 the team stopped in Monroe on the way home from Beaver to take down South Sevier in straight sets 25-18, 26-24, 25-15.
Flannery had 15 kills in the win with Taylor and Black tallying nine and eight respectively. Nielson added a very impressive 32 assists. Brinkley Knight and Adi Ivins served two aces each.
Adi Ivins also led the defense with 11 digs. Aspyn Ivins, Sloane Middleton, and Flannery all collected nine digs apiece. Nielson had eight digs and Taylor got seven.
San Juan is gearing up for a big weekend with a couple home games against 2A top-six opponents. On Thursday and Friday, October 1-2 they will host #6 Enterprise and #4 Parowan.
The Lady Broncos beat both teams to begin their 11-game winning streak, but both have continued to play well after losing to San Juan. It will definitely be a challenging weekend.