High school girls volleyball: Timpview overcomes region foe Maple Mountain in 5-set nail biter

Last year, Timpview transitioned from Region 8 to Region 7 and held its own, securing a third-place finish with a 7-5 region record. However, the Thunderbirds struggled against new rival Maple Mountain, suffering two tough 3-0 losses to the Golden Eagles.

Despite its history, Timpview came into the home of the defending 5A state champion and handed it a 3-2 loss on Thursday.

“It felt really good to win,” said Thunderbirds outside hitter Livia Eyre. “In this gym, we kind of had a thing for losing in here, but it felt terrific to just pull it out and win today.”

The Thunderbirds didn’t waste any time as they started with a 4-0 lead in the first set and never trailed in the set as they ran up the score to a 25-19 set win. Eyre immediately had her impact felt with eight kills in the first set.

From there, Maple Mountain woke up. Emily Van Ginkel and Tenley Smithson played well on the net and applied much-needed pressure on the Timpview defense. Three aces helped the Golden Eagles gain control and take a 25-20 second set win to tie the match 1-1.

Van Ginkel, Smithson and Maple Mountain didn’t stop there as they cruised to a convincing 25-15 third-set win. Smithson especially shined with five kills and a block on Eyre on the final point to seal the set.

Despite its strong start, Timpview had its back against the wall and faced yet another loss on the road against Maple Mountain.

Serving seemed to become an issue, with the Thunderbirds tallying eight service errors across the opening three sets.

“Serving is 100% mental,” said Timpview head coach Annie Briggs Cooper. “They went in there, they were super aggressive and then they missed one. They started to think about it too much.

“I had a chat with them in the third set saying, ‘Hey, we still go back there, we still stay confident’ and then it started to fix by the end of the fifth set.”

The Thunderbirds bounced back in the fourth set as they rallied behind Eyre’s seven kills. Timpview also got a lift from senior Taray Tela Spencer and quickly got out to a 14-7 lead.

Timpview got up by as much as 21-14, but Maple Mountain made things scary with a five-point rally to bring it within 21-19 behind a sequence of kills and blocks from Smithson.

But Timpview held on to its close lead and an ace from Eyre sealed the 2-2 tie, forcing a fifth set.

Despite giving up a 7-11 start to Maple Mountain in the fifth, three kills from each of Eyre and Spencer helped bring it back within 14-14.

“We just came into the huddle and our coach said, ‘Let’s just take care of business,’” said Eyre. “We just needed to clean it up on our side and play everything clean instead of playing their side.

“We were all in panic mode and we just had to calm down.”

Van Ginkel stepped up and served an ace to take the 15-14 lead, and the Thunderbirds capitalized with a kill from Eyre to seal the 16-14 fifth-set victory and the 3-2 Region 7 win.

“They really just trusted each other and just did their job and that’s all they were focused on,” said Briggs Cooper. “They weren’t worried about anybody else.

“They were just worried about the team and the six girls on the court, and it resulted in a win.”

The win gives Timpview a 3-0 region record, which currently places the Thunderbirds firmly at the top of Region 7.