Mountain Ridge volleyball taking every game as a gift in 2020
Aug 19, 2020 11:51AM ● By Justin Adams
By Justin Adams | [email protected]
The Mountain Ridge volleyball team started off its season with a dominant 3-0 victory over Stansbury High. Head coach Bryan Nicholson said his team is grateful for every chance they have to get out on the court.
"It was good to play someone other than ourselves. We're really thankful for every match we get right now with the crazy COVID stuff. That's our approach to the season is every practice and game is a gift," he said.
The Sentinels are coming off an inaugural 2019 campaign in which they went 12-19 overall and 3-9 in region play. That was good enough for a 14-seed based on RPI rankings, which allowed them to host a first-round matchup against Spanish Fork, which they won 3-1.
"Getting our first playoff win, being able to host a game and get to the UVU center was a big goal of ours," said Nicholson. "This year [our goal] is getting deeper into the playoff and we have the tools to do that. If we can stay healthy we can continue to progress."
One advantage for the Sentinels this season is that they return a lot of experience. As a first-year school last year, they had just two seniors and only five juniors. That allowed a lot of sophomores and freshman to get valuable playing time, which will surely pay dividends this year.
In fact, one of the Sentinels' best players last year, Ireland McNees, was a fresman. She played in more sets than anyone else on the team and recorded the second-most kills on the team with 265.
She'll be given even more responsibilities this year, as she's moving to part-time setter as well, said Nicholson.
But the Sentinels' biggest offensive weapon is senior outside hitter Sammy Perry, who last year led the team in kills with 307 and was an honorable mention for the 5A All-State team.
"She's really improved a lot. She gets us points when we're not supposed to. She takes care of the ball. She's basically our best offensive weapon right now," said Nicholson.
The Mountain Ridge volleyball team started off its season with a dominant 3-0 victory over Stansbury High. Head coach Bryan Nicholson said his team is grateful for every chance they have to get out on the court.
"It was good to play someone other than ourselves. We're really thankful for every match we get right now with the crazy COVID stuff. That's our approach to the season is every practice and game is a gift," he said.
The Sentinels are coming off an inaugural 2019 campaign in which they went 12-19 overall and 3-9 in region play. That was good enough for a 14-seed based on RPI rankings, which allowed them to host a first-round matchup against Spanish Fork, which they won 3-1.
"Getting our first playoff win, being able to host a game and get to the UVU center was a big goal of ours," said Nicholson. "This year [our goal] is getting deeper into the playoff and we have the tools to do that. If we can stay healthy we can continue to progress."
One advantage for the Sentinels this season is that they return a lot of experience. As a first-year school last year, they had just two seniors and only five juniors. That allowed a lot of sophomores and freshman to get valuable playing time, which will surely pay dividends this year.
In fact, one of the Sentinels' best players last year, Ireland McNees, was a fresman. She played in more sets than anyone else on the team and recorded the second-most kills on the team with 265.
She'll be given even more responsibilities this year, as she's moving to part-time setter as well, said Nicholson.
But the Sentinels' biggest offensive weapon is senior outside hitter Sammy Perry, who last year led the team in kills with 307 and was an honorable mention for the 5A All-State team.
"She's really improved a lot. She gets us points when we're not supposed to. She takes care of the ball. She's basically our best offensive weapon right now," said Nicholson.
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