Monticello volleyball tops Monument Valley

The Monticello High School volleyball team welcomed local rivals Monument Valley to the MHS gymnasium this past Tuesday, September 21. The Cougars were eager to be back from not competing last year due to their COVID-19 shutdown.

Monticello jumped out to an early lead with good consistent serving from Abi Christensen and kills from Saydi Young and Alise Lewis. Libero Rosy Beh’s serve receiving and smooth digging to Buck setters resulted in good assists and attacks.

The inexperienced Cougars struggled with net violations throughout the match. With consistency, the Buckaroos took set one 25-11. Head coach Kelli Keyes put in an entirely different team for the second set.

Ali Barry killed from the outside and middle. Kylie Rogers had a nice set from Barry to kill in the middle. But Monument Valley proved scrappier and took the second set 25-17.

Junior Aliyah Blackwater had several kills from the middle, opposite, and outside. Junior Raemi Nez had a block and kill. Setter Lakenya Begaye put the Cougars in a good rhythm to attack. Sophomore Shimequa Hudson contributed with a kill and a block.

In the third and fourth sets Monticello settled into a rhythm with a consistent rotation that gave the girls confidence, and the Buckaroos took the match 3-1 with scores of 25-17 and 25-13.

The win moved Monticello to 6-10 on the season and to #12 in the 1A RPI standings. Statistically, Saydi Young leads MHS in kills on the season with 48. Ali Barry follows with 39, Taylor Lewis has 38, and Kylie Rogers weighs in with 37.

Barry leads the team with 21 blocks, followed by Rogers with ten and Jessi Slack with nine on the year. Abi Christensen leads the Bucks with 81 points served and Rosy Beh is tops with 149 digs.

Following the light week, Monticello is a little busier this week. They traveled to Montezuma Creek on Tuesday, September 28 to take on the Whitehorse Raiders and will host the Pinnacle Panthers Thursday, September 30.