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Show Miners settle for third in state volleyball by Randy Hanskat Volleyball can be a game of emotions as much as talent. Momentum shifts like a pendulum, making it possible for a lesser team to beat a team with more talent on a given day. That may have been what happened Friday and Saturday at Green River in the 1A state volleyball tournament, as Valley High, a team Park City has beaten soundly in the past, upset the Miners and went on to take the state crown. Park City had to settle for third place in the state. Although that was a disappointment to some, it still ranks as the highest finish in Miner volleyball volley-ball history. "I thought we had a good chance of taking it," Miner Coach Kari Culp said Monday afternoon. "It was Saturday morning came the third round match with Valley, a team Park City has handled easily over the past three years. But what should have been routine turned into disaster. "The passes to the setter were off, as were the sets," Culp explained. "Without good sets the spikers had no chance." The Miners also lost the feeling of teamwork which they have had all season long. "They felt a panic, and lost trust in their teammates," Culp said. Down they went in two easy games, 3-15 and 1-15, a humiliating defeat. Culp said setter Tori Pillinger had difficulty fitting back into the lineup after more than a month at a ski racing camp in Austria. "Tori was used to the old team, but they had changed," Culp said. Whether or not Pillinger's return shook up the rhythm of the team. Culp returned to a 5-1 alignment for the battle for third and fourth place between Whitehorse and Park City (following the Valley loss). In the 5-1, 5-1, Becky Stover was the sole setter. With Pillinger also setting, the team uses a 6-2 alignment. In that final match Park City looked like a different team, Culp said. "We beat them quite easily," as the 15-2, 15-4 scores illustrated. That win gave the Miners third place. Culp said Andrea Peterson and Suzie Miles both performed very well at state. "Both of them clicked in the tournament," she said. "They were hitting hard, some of their best of the year." Also performing well were Nicki Koch on the hitting line and Becky Stover on the serving line. Looking ahead to next year Culp doesn't know quite what to expect. The only returning starter from this year's team will be Erin Bolton. "It will be virtually a whole new team. We will be young and building." Most of the varsity team will be sophomores. She was also unsure if her assistant coaches, Linda Rasmussen and Glenelle Oberich, would be back next year. Culp said those two, both with extensive college volleyball experience, "did some wonderful things with the girls" this season. They taught some advanced college plays and drills, she said. really, really disappointing, but I'm happy we took third." Culp said she thought the Miners could have beaten Valley, but were simply not up for the game. She said the Miners had given their all in a Friday night showdown with North Sevier (the team which knocked Park City out of contention in last year's tournament) and had nothing left for Valley Saturday morning. They fell in two straight games. From there the highest they could place was third. Valley finished first, followed by Piute in second. Piute was also second last year. Then came Park City, Whitehorse, and Green River (last year's state champs). Park City's first opponent was Gunnison Friday afternoon. Culp said her squad was very nervous going into that opening round match, and wound up losing the first game 11-15. That loss, however, woke them up and they went on to dominate the final two games, 15-5, 15-1 to win the match. Then came a touch second round match against rival North Sevier. Both teams remembered last year's tournament, Culp said, and were very psyched for the rematch. "Everybody on both sides went all out in that match," she said. The first game went to Park City 15-10 and the second to North Sevier 9-15. The finale was tied at 14-14 when Park City scored two straight to pull through for the win, 16-14. With that win came a guarantee of at least fourth place in state. Culp said she thinks the girls relaxed a bit then, and may have thought subconsciously that they had the state title in the bag. It was a costly lapse. |