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Show , s jA, V . fT i- V f ft 1 A J J , L jL, i ' , . - - The Miners: Back row (L-R) Head Coach Kari Culp, Susie Miles, Amy Irvine, Wendy Plummer, Becky Stover, Marlene Murnin, Mindy McMillen, Coach Debbie Kane, Coach Linda Rasmussen. Front: Tori Pillinger, Andrea Peterson, Amanda Smith, Nicki Koch, Susan Stover, Kelly Bolton. Co-captain Kelly Bolton sets the ball to cheers from the Miner bench and fans. Mimieir volleyball title hopes spiked in state toormey t 1 - - n V l. - ' ' . 1 LL. j . ':. Cy ;' 1 -v. i8w if-- T r- ' M'fr - v . ''. r ft ;. v " 4 ' L J by Randy Hanskat The Park City High School girls' volleyball team played a total of 17 matches this season, and only lost one. But that one loss was a costly one for the Miners. It occurred in the second round of the state 1A volleyball tournament which was held last Friday and Saturday in Park City. And with the tournament setup, after that one loss the Miners could do no better than fifth place which is where they finished. Hopes were high going into the state championships. The Miners had completed the regular season and the regionals without a loss, and were one of the teams to beat at stafe'.' But a second-round-" loss to rival North Sevier automatically put Park City out of contention for the title. Ironically, North Sevier lost its next two games after beating Park City, but still finished ahead of the Miners. With many of the Park City players in the stands, watching instead of playing, Green River faced Piute for the state 1A crown. Green River emerged with the victory. vic-tory. Whitehorse finished third, and North Sevier took fourth. According to Kari Culp, coach of the Park City girls, the state championships ran smoothly. She said it was only the second state event to be held in Park City (the other being tennis), and the way it was run will definitely help bring more state events to Park City. Crowds were good on Friday, ... although fans moaned about the high ad mission prices charged by the Utah High School Activities Acti-vities Association. On Saturday Satur-day the attendance dropped off as the hopes of the Miners vanished. But the action was still top-notch through the finals Saturday at 7 p.m. On Friday at 2:30 p.m. the Miners faced Wayne in the first round. Park City came out tense, and after winning the first game in typical fashion 15-8, tightened up in the second. That game went to Wayne 12-15. But in the third the Miners resumed a more relaxed spiking and serving attitude and crushed Wayne 15-6. On to the second round. North Sevier was the opponent op-ponent at 9 p.m. Friday in the high- ischool " gym.: Park City wanted revenge, as North Sevier was the team which eliminated the Miners in last year's state playoffs. Culp went with a bit different dif-ferent starting lineup, inserting inser-ting Becky Stover who has a powerful serve. Still, the Miners were uptight in the first game, losing 7-15. "The mistakes were mainly due to pressure," said Culp later. But she added ad-ded that after last year, when the Miners were defeated in two straight, Park City wouldn't go down without a fight. Stover's serving was the difference in that second game. "She did a beautiful job," said Culp, "Her concentration con-centration was so strong that she uplifted the entire team." Park City was behind in the game, but then Stover rotated into the serving ser-ving position. When she was finished Park City was in the lead to stay, winning 15-11. The third and deciding game was a battle, with both teams knowing they must win it to keep their hopes to be state champions alive. It was a seesaw affair, with both teams gaining and then losing momentum. But a couple of key points pushed the scales to the North Sevier side, as they sweated to a 12-15 victory. After the loss it would have been easy for the Miner girls to give up, their chances for the title now dashed. And on Saturday they had to face a fine team in Gunnison, the runner-up in Region 12, behind Piute. The match was at 12:30p.m. But Culp said the members mem-bers of the team weren't ready to give up. With a much more relaxed attitude, the Miners put on the cruise control and rained endless spikes onto the opposition, winning 15-4, 15-9. For their final match, to decide the fifth and seventh places in the state, the Miners moved to the Treasure Mountain Middle School, the other court used in the tournament. The opponent op-ponent in this match was Valley High, a team composed com-posed of numerous Valley girls. Although the Miner-cheering Miner-cheering crowd was diminished from Friday night, there were still many diehards present at the 4 p.m. contest. They hung a banner proclaiming that even though the team could no longer win the championship champion-ship they were still number one. And the crowd took it out on the opposition. Seizing on the colors of the Valley girls, black and orange, a barrage of Halloween chants arose. "Squash the pumpkins!" "We want pumpkin pie!" In the first game the Miners were cold, losing 7-15. 7-15. But in the second game the Stover girls, Becky and Susan, started the comeback barrage. They led Park City to a 15-11 win in the second game. Then in the third, the ever-present spiking mastery of Nicki Koch, and the spikes, sets, and overall leadership of Kelly Bolton carved up the "pumpkins." Final score 15-13. So, even though the Miners only lost one match, they finished fifth. Culp was unhappy with the tournament tour-nament format. "I would like to see it changed," she said. "If a team has a bad game they're stuck." Looking past the disappointing disap-pointing tournament to next season, Culp is optimistic. It will be her third year of coaching girls' volleyball, and she thinks the chances of returning to the state playoffs playof-fs for the third straight year are good. "I think next year we can be just as strong and will have even a better chance chan-ce at state. The girls will be more experienced in pressure games." Two of this year's starters, Kelly Bolton and Amanda Smith, will be graduating, as will other team members Susan Stover, Wendy Plummer, and Amy Irvine. But many team members, such as Marlene Murnin, are ready to step into the open slots. Nicki Koch swats a spike as Susie Miles watches two Gunnison players feebly try to block. photos by Randy Hanskat 1 - - - - - - - i Amanda Smith (dark kneepads) and Tori Pillinger Pillin-ger rudely block a Gunnison spike. |