San Juan, Monticello volleyball open seasons

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
It was a great start to the season for both the San Juan and Monticello volleyball teams this past week. For the Broncos it was a 4-0 opening week after they swept the round-robin portion of the Nephi Swarm Tournament at Juab High School.
The Buckaroos are 2-0 after nice wins over Grand County and Montezuma-Cortez. The longtime rivals were set to square off in Monticello on Tuesday, August 27 to decide who remains undefeated and who suffers their first loss of the year.
San Juan began the year with a trip to Kirtland, NM on Tuesday, August 20 where they quickly dispatched the Kirtland Central Mustangs in hard-fought straight sets 25-20, 25-19, and 25-21.
Morgann McPherson led the team with 15 kills in the win. Madden Perkins collected seven kills while Keezie Flannery and Miley Harrison both got five apiece.
McPherson had a very impressive 18 digs while Averie Gilson got 16, Harrison registered eight, Flannery got seven, and Keegan Palmer dug four.
Gilson served up three aces in the season opener while Perkins and Harrison got two apiece and Flannery and Palmer got one each. Perkins and McPherson also collected two blocks apiece to lead the team.
This past weekend the team traveled to Juab to play in the Nephi Swarm Tournament. Head Coach Shelby Eldredge said her girls only played in the round-robin portion of the tourney because they “had some games to give.”
The Broncos cruised past all three of their opponents with 2-0 wins over Providence Hall, American Leadership Academy, and Wayne County.
Against the Patriots the sets were 25-11 and 25-17 in favor of San Juan, against the Eagles they were 25-9 and 25-18, and against the Badgers they were 25-19 and 25-14.
Keezie Flannery collected an impressive 48 assists on the weekend, helping Morgann McPherson to 23 kills. Lizzie Palmer and Miley Harrison had 11 kills apiece. Madden Perkins got ten on the weekend.
Flannery led the team with nine digs. Averie Gilson and Keegan Palmer registered eight apiece, Kellyn Davis had seven, and McPherson got five.
Gilson and Palmer led the way with seven aces apiece along with an 88.9 and 87.5 serving percentage respectively. McPherson went 19-of-21 to lead the team with a 90.5 percentage on the weekend.
For Monticello the season began in a bit more exciting fashion. They trailed Grand County 2-0 in the season opener in Moab on Tuesday, August 20 but rallied to win three straight for a thrilling five-set win.
The Buckaroos lost the first two sets 26-24 and 25-21, then stayed alive with a pivotal 25-23 third-set victory. They kept the pedal down to take sets four and five 25-22 and 15-8 to take the victory.
The team traveled to Cortez, CO on Friday, August 23 for another rivalry showdown with the Montezuma-Cortez Panthers.
Once again it was a hard-fought battle but this time the Bucks opened with a 26-24 win and maintained the lead to the end with 25-18 and 26-24 wins in the second and third sets to sweep the Panthers.
It’s a busy week this week for both teams. As stated above, they faced each other for a showdown between undefeated rivals in Monticello on Tuesday, August 27.
San Juan hits the road on Wednesday, August 28 to face the Gunnison Valley Bulldogs in Gunnison, UT. They’ll play the Miyamura Patriots in Gallup, NM on Friday, August 30.
Monticello will finish off their week with a trip to Price, UT to take on the Pinnacle Panthers in a Region 19 matchup on Thursday, August 29.