Lady Cougars continue strong play heading into final week of season

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The Monument Valley High School volleyball team has played very strongly in the past two weeks. They won six of the seven games they played in that time period and find themselves with a 14-8 overall record. They’re 5-1 in Region 19 and ranked seventh in the Utah 1A.
On Tuesday, September 30 the Lady Cougars traveled 85 miles east to Teec Nos Pos, AZ to take on the Red Mesa Lady Redskins. They dispatched their rivals in straight sets, 25-22, 25-23, and 25-10.
Ayainna Cly led the team with nine kills but Dakotah Cly had eight and Naomi White collected seven. White also served five aces in the win. Ayainna Cly assisted on 17 Monument Valley points.
Dakotah Cly was strong at the net with five blocks while Naomi White had nine digs, Nay’myia Morgan collected five, and Nizhoni Yazzie had two.
On Thursday, October 2 the Lady Cougars returned home where they swept Pinnacle 25-8, 25-19, and 25-15 in a Region 19 dual.
Dakotah Cly had nine kills in the win, Naomi White had five, and LeighAn Atene got three. Enderya Hernandez-Cipriano served up seven aces, White served five, and Ayainna Cly had four. Cly also led the team with 14 assists.
Monument Valley suffered a straight-sets loss the following night in Cortez against Montezuma-Cortez. The Lady Panthers downed the Lady Cougars 25-13, 25-13, and 25-14.
Despite the loss Dakotah Cly knocked down six kills with Samara Sheppard and Hernandez-Cipriano collecting four and three respectively. Dakotah Cly served two aces in the loss and Ayainna Cly had 12 assists.
The team got back in the win column in a hard-fought 3-2 win in Rock Point, AZ on Monday, October 6 in a battle between two teams that call themselves the Lady Cougars.
Monument Valley had Rock Point on the ropes after winning the opening two sets 25-21 and 25-18. But Rock Point stormed back to take the next two sets 25-17 and 25-22.
The fifth and final set went down to the wire with Monument Valley outlasting their hosts 15-13. Naomi White led the Lady Cougars with 12 kills. Dakotah Cly served four aces.
Peyton Tome collected 15 assists and Meliyah Holiday got ten. Naomi White was a defensive stalwart, digging 15 Rock Point shots and collecting ten blocks.
In their most recent match Monument Valley welcomed the rival Monticello Lady Buckaroos to the MVHS gym on Tuesday, October 7 for another hard-fought battle.
The Lady Cougars lost to Monticello 3-1 in the teams’ first meeting back on September 16. But on this night they wouldn’t be denied as they downed their rivals in five sets.
Monticello took the opening set 31-29 but Monument Valley rallied to win sets two and three 25-20 and 25-19. The Lady Buckaroos returned the favor in the fourth set, defeating Monument Valley 25-19.
Then, just like against Rock Point the previous night the Lady Cougars held on for a 15-13 fifth-set win, closing out a big win on their home court.
Naomi White led the offensive effort with 15 kills and nine serving aces. Ayainna Cly had a very impressive 22 assists in the win.
Defensively Naomi White had 12 digs while Dakotah Cly collected nine blocks.
The Lady Cougars are closing out their regular season this week with two home games. They hosted Green River on Tuesday, October 14 in a game played after the San Juan Record print deadline.
They’ll host Whitehorse in the final regular season Battle of the Drum on Wednesday, October 15. The game is scheduled to start at 6:15 p.m.