OCR Text |
Show Page B2 Thursday, September 18, 2003 Times Newspaper Oirem spikeirs sweep past Paysomi LANDON OLSON Times Sports Editor The Tigers can finally breath a sigh of relief and just in time too. With Region VII play looming, the Orem girls' volleyball vol-leyball team picked up its first non-tournament Tuesday with a 25-18, 25-21, 25-21 sweep of Payson. "It's always nice to get the monkey off our back. We've won some tournament games, but it's nice to finally beat a team in the valley," said Orem head coach Daniel McKeehan And the way the Tigers won also has to be encouraging. encourag-ing. McKeehan was without middle blocker Lisa Horton, who has an ankle injury, and also didn't start two players due to disciplinary action. But the Tigers still got off to a quick start in the opening open-ing set. Riding the early momentum from a Payson service error something that would haunt the Lions all night the Tigers jumped out to a 5-1 lead behind a couple of kills by outside hitter Marsha Heimuli. The lead was extended to 12-5 before Payson closed to within two at 13-11, but a service error would be costly again as Orem ran off five more points to go up 18-11. Behind the play of Lauren Togec tomonQS LANDON OLSON Times Sports Editor It took Orem a set to warm-up, but once the Tigers did, they remained unstoppable. unstop-pable. Last years' Region VII champion, the Orem girls' tennis team is undefeated in region play this season (5-0) and added its latest victim Tuesday the Timpanogos Timberwolves in a 5-0 shutout. "Their first set they were a little bit sluggish, but they picked and started playing their game, and when they're playing their game, they're very good," said Orem head coach Lynsi Gardner about her players. Part of the reason for the slow start, Gardener said, may have come from the team being back home after having played a tournament in St. George. Due to the change in elevation, the ball flies different and takes PASSION continued from Page Bl "Everyone, all the coaches from the other teams, they'll come up and say, 'Is she the girl who played third singles last year? Wow, she's really improved,"' Robert said. While Robert says she isn't too surprised Bridgette has been able to accomplish as much as she has, not many people peo-ple could do the same thing. "She's just a natural athlete," Robert says of Bridgette. "There's not very many people who could do what she's done in such a short amount of time. "Just the big thing is she worked really hard. She just decided to dedicate herself this last summer and she worked really hard. Now she just loves it," the coach said. Right now, Robert, said, getting experience is a big thing for Bridgette, as well as figuring out where her strengths are, Automotlvi Ffftittxs -ff : SATISFACTION GUARANTEED Open Mon-Fri 8am - 5pm FOREIGN & DOMESTIC TOWING AVAILABLE FREE ESTIMATES PRECISE COLOR MATCHING Orem's Diana Tumlnez goes airborne diving for a ball during Layton down the stretch, who had the final two Orem kills and combined with Tiffany Harward for a pair of blocks, Orem closed out the game with a 25-18 victory. The second game played out very similar to the first, with Orem going up early at 5-1 and Payson being within one at 13-12 only to see Orem run off six straight points. Once against, Orem some adjustment. Despite the slow start, in all but one of the matches the Tigers were able to win the first set, then cruise on for the victory. At No. 1 singles, Kaitlyn Craig won 6-1 in the first then took the second 6-0 over Jenny Madsen for the victory. victo-ry. For Ashlee Gardner at No. 2, the match was a bit closer, but she still picked up the 6- 3, 6-1 victory. The tightest singles match was at No. 3 though, where Shannon Finch needed a tiebreaker in the first set to edge Kandace Thomas 7-6 (7-4). (7-4). The second set went all in Finch's favor though as she won 6-0. "It was crazy. I've never played a match like that," Finch said. "Normally, if I have a tie breaker, it's a tie breaker in both or closer in the second. I don't know, it was a little different." Getting adjusted to the playing conditions may have 226-2969 FAX: 226-6221 354 South State Street, Orem i" , closed off the game from the outside with a couple of kills from Heimuli and Layton putting the final point away for the 25-21 win. In the third, Payson had some early momentum, taking tak-ing the lead at 11-9 and holding hold-ing on at 13-12. But once again a mid-game run by the Tigers would swing the momentum. Four straight points put the Tigers up IB keeps been the biggest factor, though, Finch said. "In the first one I know I was hitting it out a lot and just couldn't get used to the wind and stuff," she said. "I just worked on getting them back. She's a good player so I just worked on getting it back." In doubles, the duo of Mary Dyer and Diana Perry picked up the first win for Orem, sweeping Collette and Katie Covey 6-2, 6-0. "Our first doubles played very well. They played a really tough match and I was proud of that," Gardner said. "Just everybody played really well. I was excited about it today." Timpanogos (0-5) was able to pick up the first set at No. 2 doubles, 6-4, but Taylor Brady and Nicole Clark bounced back for the 7-5, 6-2 win against Skye Smith and Janae Anderson. Despite the frustration of the season, Timpanogos coach Suzy Hansgen isn't disappointed in her players. but that will come with more play, especially as focused as Robert says Bridgette is on improving. "It's hard to find tennis players who have started so late who are able to improve and get as good as she has," Robert said. "She wants instant feedback and she's out there everyday wanting to improve, wanting to get better. That makes her different dif-ferent from a lot of other people. She really wants to get better." Although she's still learning, Bridgette doesn't plan on stopping with tennis in high school. She hopes to play at Utah State in the future, joining her sister who runs track and cross country for the Aggies. But before then, Bridgette will be serving as a leader and example for the young Bruins, something she says comes as a big responsibility because she feels the team depends on her. "It's hard because I don't know that much. I basically do Your Link Back To The Road. "THE DEFINITION OF QUALITY & WORKMANSHIP" EXPERTS IN INSURANCE CLAIMS HANDLING WE WORK WITH ALL INSURANCE COMPANIES UNIBODY & FRAME REPAIR '""1 the Tigers 3-0 victory over Payson on Tuesday. IS, although Payson would tie it back up at 18-18. But a service error and a couple of attacking errors put the Lions in a 21-18 hole, giving Orem a chance to finish the match. After a Layton kill and a solo block by Harward, Payson was able to close within two at 23-21, but Harward picked up back-to-back kills to finish off the imp Its "The girls are still trying real hard," she said. "I feel like we're getting better, we're just losing some close matches." But, no matter how the T-wolves T-wolves finish, the only thing that has any weight toward going on to state tournament is the region tournament. "I keep telling the girls region is the warm-up for the region tournament. That's where it is all decided," Hansgen said. "As long as we're learning and getting better at each match, we've still got the region tournament tourna-ment and hopefully we can surprise some people." Orem played at Mountain View on Wednesday and will play at Pleasant Grove on Tuesday. Timpanogos had Pleasant Grove on Wednesday and will travel to Lone Peak on Thursday. Other region scores: Mountain View 5, Timpanogos 0 Orem 3, Lone Peak 2 1 & 2 Bl'DROOM WI TH Fin. I. KlTCIHiN & Balcony Wasiii:r & Dryhr in i:acm unit tilHIC ATIONAL AND Cultural ac tivitils ClIAUl I LURCD Transportation S roRACii; Spac i: Onsitk Blauty & Barhlrsiiop Computlr Lab & Lihrary Maid Slrvict; photn l) I.iiihIdii ()lMin;i'v Y'ir(iT Lions and give Orem another 25-21 win. "Tiffany is big for us. She's brand new at middle," McKeehan said of Harward. "She's only going to get better. bet-ter. She's getting better every game. She's a great kid. She works her tail off." Layton led the Tigers with 10 kills on the night while Heimuli added eight. "Both played outstand wiuno! it I f ? i I ; i-.A . A, v T u I y t f if KL 7 ft I i f i ,tT i ; i ; . t t ' phiilo In l.anrion Olson 77wi'v VievifluT Orem's Shannon Finch slides baseline to return a shot during the Tigers' match against Timpanogos at home on Tuesday. what my coach tells me," she said. Bridgette may be humble about her knowledge, but because she works so hard, Robert said the junior serves as a good example to the other girls. Plus, she's not someone Robert has to tell to do things, despite what Bridgette says. "It's good for these other girls to see," Robert said. "She's not the type of player where as an instructor you always have to be watching them. The girls definitely look up to that and its something they should try to do as well." With Bridgette leading them from that No. 1 spot, the Bruins are looking to continue winning as they begin the second sec-ond half of region play. Mountain View sits in the middle pack but is working to finish strong before the region tournament Oct. 2. And, unless bronchitis interferes again, the hard work my just pay off in another trip to state for Bridgette. Summafielcl ' - V Now Open ddl 434-?5S to iScl)alnle a vLUt to our 'Hew 'Retinnm'ut CoimiiiinHii ing," McKeehan said. "I'm really please with how Lauren played. She was hitting hit-ting the ball at the top like she should." The Tigers also finished with six blocks on the night, something McKeehan said t he team spends a lot of time on. Because Payson was trying try-ing to set the middle, McKeehan said his team was able to close with three blockers and shut down the attack from there. With a negated attack, the Tiger passers were able to go to work, getting the ball back to the setter. "I think our passing was the most important" Layton said. Tiger Carly Taylor said, "We were playing together and passing better." With Region VII play starting soon, both Taylor and Layton said the match was important in building confidence and getting bringing bring-ing the team together. 'Kvoryone was trying to he positive and bring each other up," Layton said. Taylor said people had been asking the team when it was going to win, and now that it has, the players feel stronger and like they can keep winning. The Tigers will have that chance Thursday when they play at Lone I'aak in their first region match. s 1i . . . 1K ' t T rRetireineni Community :'.,.,.M";',ri' ' i |