Boys volleyball claims top spot in Region 13

Headed into their game Tuesday evening at Grantsville, Morgan was tied with the Cowboys for first place in the region.  With both teams at 2-0 in the region with wins over Ben Lomond and Ogden, the outright Region 13 leader was on the line in the game.  The game did not disappoint and the Trojans emerged victorious in four games, 24-26, 25-16, 27-25, 29-27!

Coach Kyle Komenda was thrilled with his team’s performance. “I love the way we played today.  Our young men showed heart, and they put the things we have been practicing the past three or four sessions into the game.”

“It’s not easy to implement new things,” he continued, “but they do it.  They stayed focused tonight and kept fighting and fighting in each game.”

Morgan and Grantsville opened their first game in a back and forth battle.  Morgan led at 4-2 and 5-3 before the teams traded points and ties up to 14-14.  Two aces by the Cowboys put the Trojans down 14-17, but Morgan didn’t stop and tied the game at 18-18.  Grantsville pulled ahead 20-24 before Morgan forced errors and tied the game at 24-24 before falling 24-26. 

Komenda noted, “We have a young team.  We have two or possibly three players who have played organized volleyball before.  We make a lot of what we call “JV mistakes” on the court because we’re young.  Hopefully we’ll have them gone before the end of the season.”

With great poise, the Trojans shook off the close loss and opened the second set with six unanswered points after Grantsville scored the first point.  Freshman setter Caleb Stephens served the first six points forcing the Cowboys to call a timeout.  Coming out of the time out, the Cowboys rallied and pulled within one at 7-6.  Steady play on the Trojans’ side pulled them ahead 17-11.  A great play at the net by Stephens extended the lead to 18-12 and a tip by Mason Williams expanded the lead even more, 20-13.  Senior Christian Nunez put an exclamation point on the game with a monster kill at 23-15 before Dex Wallin served out the game to win 25-16.  

The third game opened with two giant blocks by Morgan.  Jack Komenda stuff blocked the 

Cowboys to open 1-0 and then Grantsville dug up the second ball that the Morgan front wall put down.  The teams exchanged the lead before Grantsville pulled ahead 7-13.  The Trojans caught up at 16-16, but they fell behind again 17-21 on passing and hitting errors.  With the team down 20-23, Stephens got a kill to start the comeback, and Madden Bell slammed an overset to tie the game at 23-23.  After a time out by the Cowboys, Wallin added a go-ahead kill to go up 24-23, but the Cowboys rallied.  A kill by Komenda tied the game at  25-25.  Nunez and Stephens came together to block a Cowboy kill to go up 26-25, and Komenda closed out the game with a kill to win 27-25.

Up 2-1 in the match, Morgan opened the final game down 1-4.  Behind great serving by Komenda, they pulled ahead 5-4.  Both teams exchanged the lead back and forth before tying at 10-10.  Grantsville pulled ahead 10-16 on strong blocking and led 14-19 before a Morgan timeout.  Coming out of the time out, the Trojans were fired up and scored on a kill off an overset, then Nunez added another kill and Stephens scored off a tip.  Nunez served four points ending with an ace to tie the game at 22-22.  Grantsville took the lead and had game point at 22-24 before serving it in the net for the first of four net serves that ultimately led to the Trojans’ 29-27 victory.  Solid serving under pressure  by Komenda and senior Jace Martinson in the end lifted the Trojans to the sole possession of first place in Region 13. 

“It was a great win tonight,” Komenda concluded.  “We’ll play Ogden and Ben Lomond again soon and then Grantsville.  We only have four teams in the region this year. Headed into State, we want to get rid of our JV mistakes and continue to improve.”

Morgan holds a 10-6 record in their inaugural season.  Five of the Trojans’ six losses are to 4A or larger schools.  Their single loss to a team they will possibly meet at state is North Sanpete. 

Komenda feels that Morgan will have a strong showing at State along with North Sanpete, Grantsville and Odgen. 

 “It’s exciting to see our sport growing.  Although our region is small this year, and State will be 1A-3A, other 3A schools are planning to add teams next year.  We have some high schools with great girls programs that are adding boys’ programs next year!” λ