| Potts to Garvin. The solid play of setter Julia Potts to Megan Garvin has been part of the Dinos great success in region play this year. |
For a team in a rebuilding year, an upset victory over the Carbon Dinos would have been sweet for the Emery Spartans. They rolled into town on Tuesday looking to do just that. Carbon would hear none of that knowing they had the chance to claim the region title with a win. The Dinos came away with a sweep to win the match and the title by the scores of 25-11, 25-16, and 25-9.
Carbon/Emery match-ups always have an intensity of their own and this match was no exception. Carbon was coming off the most intense week of their schedule and Emery was gunning to have the upset of their season.
Game one stayed fairly even for a while. The Dinos kept a slight lead over Emery until they hit 18 points and then they pulled away to finish off the game. The Dinos made a few more service errors than normal because Coach Cristen Johnson challenged them to take their serving up a notch. “We need to have a powerful serving game to take our game to the next level. Any time you kick it up a notch you are going to miss a few.”
The Spartans came out on fire in game two, determined to steal a win. The Dinos were determined not to let it happen. Emery led a lot of the way until Carbon got on a roll late in the game to finish them off.
With a momentum swing, the Dinos came out in game three with an 11-0 run to take the lead early and define the mood for the final game of the set. Emery struggled, but made a few runs to try and get into the game. Carbon wasted no time in staking claim to the match and the title as they ran away with the final game.
Johnson had no issues with the way her team played and was glad to get away from the drama that the team endured in their wins last week. With another superb team effort under their belts, the team is benefiting from the solid play of the bench players who have stepped up to fill key rolls. Freshman Alexis Oliver is one of those who have had to fill in. She is playing in her older sister’s spot. Whitney Oliver was lost to a knee injury several games ago and is not expected to return. Alexis Oliver had four service aces in the match.
Erika Potts continues her solid defense with 10 defensive digs. She had a pair of service aces as well. Julia Potts remained a cornerstone of the Dino offense as she passed the ball around with 21 set assists and eight defensive digs. Britni Greenwood scored eight kills and eight digs on the night. Adding another 14 kills to her stats was the offensive force of Megan Garvin. She was also a part of 30 team attacks.
Johnson gave her team a challenge to go undefeated in region play this year. A win Thursday night against Juan Diego will fulfill that challenge. Game time is at 6:30 at Carbon High. It is the final game before the state tournament October 26-27 at Utah Valley Community College.