High school girls volleyball: Mountain View beats Provo in an emphatic four-set match

It wasn’t pretty, but Mountain View won three straight sets after dropping the first set to defeat the Provo Bulldogs in 4A Region 8 girls’ volleyball on Tuesday night.

After losing the first set 25-23, the Bruins rattled off three winning sets of 25-12, 25-15, and 25-13.

Mountain View coach Dave Neely refused to name an MVP for the game and instead highlighted his whole team that rallied to victory.

“We’re a team that has a lot of players that can score points for us,” Neely said. “That’s been a hallmark of ours for the last five years. We have a lot of really good volleyball players.”

While the whole team played extremely well, Mountain View was led by senior Berkley Richards, who led the team with 16 kills. The hard-hitting senior showed off a range of hits, scoring from all sides of the court.

“We want to have a spread-out offense, we certainly emphasize a lot of hitting attempts from the left side, the right side, and the middle,” Neely said.

Neely’s spread-out offense worked to perfection, as Provo players often arrived late to blocks. Jaycee Carlson and Adalyn Vance had seven kills apiece, while Ava Eudis added six.

“(Spread offense is) hard to defend against,” Neely said. “It’s like being a soccer goalie, we attack all the sides of the net. If you’re a blocker against us, it’s hard cause you don’t know left, middle, right. A lot of times, they guess, a lot of times, we set away, and there’s less block there than if we were predictable ... We want to make our opponents jobs hard defensively.”

No one made Provo’s job harder defensively than serving specialist Tori Harris. On Tuesday night, Harris served seven aces. The mixture of ball placement and velocity made her serve lethal. The only way she was stopped was if the ball hit the net or went out of bounds.

Neely emphasized bringing Harris in when the Bruins needed scoring; Harris knew her role and performed it flawlessly.

Mountain View’s standout spread offense is more than just an emphasis for Neely’s team — it’s how the team is set up. After five years of coaching with Mountain View, it appears he has a recipe for success. Coming off the heels of a championship with Pleasant Grove’s men’s volleyball team, Neely sees something in his team.

“One thing that’s a little bit unique about us is we have lots of really good volleyball players,” Neely said. “Some teams are one dimensional, two dimensional.”

Mountain View moves to 4-0 in Region 8 play, tied with Orem for first place. After a Thursday game in Payson, the Bruins will travel home to face their inner-city rival Orem on Tuesday, October 1st.