2A high school volleyball: Kanab sweeps its way to semifinals

OREM — Kanab got off to a fast start both of its matches in the 2A state volleyball tournament, sweeping both to advance to the semifinals against North Summit. The No. 6 Cowboys started off the day with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-9) win over No. 22 Parowan, then followed it up with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-13) win against No. 3 Wasatch Academy.

From the first whistle, Kanab was ready to go, jumping out to a 9-3 lead. The Tigers stormed back to tie the first set at 17-17. Wasatch Academy took a 23-22 lead briefly, but the Cowboys won three straight points to finish off the set.

“I felt like we were prepared and ready based on some recruiting videos we saw, and just seeing them earlier today put our girls where they needed to be defensively, and it paid off,” said Kanab coach Andrea Gilberg.

Kanab closed out the second set on an 8-0 run, giving it momentum heading into the third set.

“Momentum was huge in that second set. There’s a lot to winning those tight games that pushes you over the edge as far as momentum goes. I think we did a good job at just finalizing and putting that set away,” Gilberg said.

After the second-set run, the Cowboys took that momentum into the third set, where Kanab was up 10-2 before finishing the set and match off, 25-13.

“They basically got defeated a little bit. We were attacking some of their weaker spots on the court as far as serving goes and our girls did a really good job at listening, and it paid off,” Gilberg said.

Gilberg praised Baylee Ramsay, who had three aces and a .350 hitting percentage, and Grayce Glover, who had three aces and 30 assists.

“Baylee Ramsay is our senior outside hitter. She is definitely a standout, has a good hitting percentage, usually around the .200-300s. Our setter, Grayce, who just got a lot of great serves in and really got to all the balls to put them up so we could put the ball away,” Gilberg said.

Gilberg described her team’s playing style as “strong.”

“I would describe it as aggressive serves and attacking, trying to attack every ball,” Gilberg said.

The Cowboys will have some time off for a little rest and relaxation before their next match at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

“Some good sleep, rest and maybe a little shopping,” Gilberg said.

Enterprise wins five-set thriller and other action

No. 4 Enterprise punched its ticket to the semifinals, prevailing in a five-set thriller against No. 5 Millard. The Wolves took the first set 25-14, then the Eagles responded by winning a close second set 27-25. Millard won the third set 25-22 to go up 2-1 before Enterprise took the fourth set by the same score to force a winner-take-all fifth set. It was all Wolves in the final set as they won 15-6.

In other quarterfinals action, No. 1 Waterford beat No. 8 Monticello 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-17) and No. 2 North Summit swept No. 7 Gunnison Valley 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-20.)

Waterford will play Enterprise at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday at UVU, followed by Kanab and North Summit at 11 a.m.

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