Monument Valley volleyball team seeks first-ever state championship in Richfield this weekend

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The Monument Valley volleyball team won four of their final six regular season matches including straight-sets victories over Pinnacle, Green River, and Whitehorse in Region 19 play.
They also swept Rough Rock, AZ. The two losses came at the hands of Rock Point, AZ and Monticello. The Lady Cougars ended the regular season with a 14-9 record, ranked third in the final 1A RPI standings.
Freshman Naomi White leads the team with 139 kills so far this season, an average of six per game. Dakotah Cly has 131 and Shaundin Blackwater has 100.
Kaylisa Tome has a team-high 321 assists for an average of almost 14 per game. Ayainna Cly has 215 helpers.
Among the players who serve regularly Ayainna Cly leads the team with an 86.9 percentage. White is serving 85.1 percent for the Lady Cougars, and Sloane Sheppard is at 82.5 percent.
White leads the team with 79 aces for an average of 3.4 per game. Sheppard has 46 on the year and Ayainna Cly has 41.
White leads with 41 blocks while Blackwater has 14 and Dakotah Cly has 12. Shilah Williams has a team-high 149 digs (6.5 per game), White has 66, and Nesbah Hunt has 24.
Third-seeded Monument Valley is looking for their first-ever volleyball state championship. They skipped the first round of the 1A Utah State Tournament with a bye and will face #14 Tintic in the second round at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield this Friday, November 1 at 5 p.m.
Win or lose the Lady Cougars will close out day one of the tournament against #6 Milford or #11 Piute at 8 p.m. You can watch the team’s progress throughout the tournament live by visiting uhsaa.org/tournaments.